9:09 PM: You couldn't have written a better script for the Phoenix Coyotes 2009/10 season if you tried...

On the verge of bankruptcy and even potential relocation less than a year ago, the Dogs of the Desert, with a win tonight against Chicago, can take over first place in the Western Conference...mind you, the Blackhawks have a couple of games at hand...but I'll bet you the Coyotes would have been happy if somebody would have told them in September that by March they'd have a mere chance at a playoff spot...1st place!??!  Never in a million years would anybody have guessed...

Then again, look up and down the lineup - a great mix of character and veteran leadership...and a very good coach in Dave Tippett...he's managed to keep the guys focused on the games and not on the background business of the team, something they have no control over anyway.

It definitely is the feel good story of the season, by a long shot...hopefully they can last at least a round into the playoffs...they'll be fun to watch...

Somewhere, Wayne Gretzky is smiling from ear to ear...

So far, it's scoreless after 1 period of play at the United Center...

Elsewhere, the Cats have a 2-0 lead on the Leaves...Sens have a 1-0 lead on Philly...Bruins have a 4-0 lead over the Thrash...Stars-Preds are scoreless, as are the Oilers-Canucks, and Ducks-Flames (how mad is Calgary at Detroit this week?)...Sharks are up 1-0 on Minny, and Canes are up 2-1 on the Bolts...Devils are up 5-3 on the Jackets...late in the 3rd in that one...a surprisingly high scoring game there...looks like Kovalchuk is finally getting some points on the board with some consistency...his 37th of the year tonight...

14 seconds...Saku Koivu made good on a breakaway...Ducks win...do NOT count them out yet...

Later today - Senators-Stars is a 2PM matinee - Habs meet the Leafs, and Red Wings are in Vancouver - that makes up the HNIC lineup...11 games in total...20 for the weekend...

12:31 AM: With the goalie pulled and 32 seconds remaining - a seeing eye shot from Lubomir Visnovsky...looked like Corey Perry deflected it...

Another OT game...tied 4-4 at the Pond...

12:17 AM: Down the road in Calgary, the Flames won't be happy that they couldn't take sole possession of the 8th and final playoff spot, but they'll be happy to see their provincial rivals from Edmonton deny the Red Wings the extra point...Flames and Red Wings both tied with 81 points...Detroit with the game at hand, so they'll move back into 8th for the time being...

Oilers win 3-2 in a shootout...nothing has been easy this year...are they sure about Jordan Eberle finishing the season in Springfield?  Are they really going to make me wait until October to see him play?

Two other games tonight - the Minnesota Wild's hopes are dwindling, after a 4-2 loss at the hands of their expansion cousins in Columbus...

In Anaheim, the Ducks are hanging on for dear life - they were down 4-2 after 2 to the NY Islanders, but are now within 1 goal - it's 4-3 with less than 7 minutes remaining...no more fooling around for the Ducks...

11:57 PM: You have GOT to be kidding me...Detroit's Brian Rafalski appears to have scored with 0.2 seconds on the clock...they're reviewing it...

...and it's a goal...

Detroit-Edmonton heads to OT...Wings will at least get a point to tie Calgary in points...

This is just the type of season it has been for the Oilers...

11:51 PM: Calgary wins 4-3 against San Jose...at the moment, Detroit is down 2-1 against Edmonton - with about a minute left in Regulation...Andrew Cogliano and Ryan Whitney scoring for the Oilers, Patrick Eaves for the Wings...

10:13 AM: Disappointment for Canada at the Paralympic Games - after a sizzling start, our Sledge Hockey team lost to Japan yesterday in the semi-final game by a score of 3-1...so no hockey triple threat (if you can even call it that)...

"Canada would beat us if we played them 1,000 times, we're going to lose 999,'' said Japanese head coach Kojin Nakakita. "But not this one.''

Canada will get a chance at Bronze against Norway, Japan plays for Gold, looking to stage their own miracle on ice...against, who else?  The US of A...

9:57 PM: Maybe I won't count Anaheim out just yet...of the 14 games remaining - there are 9 of them against teams ahead of them in the West - 4 of them against teams they'd have to leap over - 1 against Calgary, 1 against St. Louis, 2 against Dallas - what's looking good there is Dallas is a division rival...2 more division games coming against L.A. (who are up by 15 points...can't see them catching them)...and not that any game is an automatic gimme - but they still have two games against Edmonton...the toughest part of their schedule down the stretch - two games against Colorado, and two against Vancouver...and of course, tonight against Chicago...

We'll see what the Ducks are made of...even though he has nothing left to prove, it would be nice to see Scott Niedermayer head off into the sunset after playing at least one final playoff series...this team has put on a late push before to make it...can they do it again?  I'm sure the San Jose Sharks are praying they can't...

9:39 PM: The New Jersey Devils looked extremely sharp in their vintage Christmas Tree jerseys - and their game plan was equally such - they managed to tie Pittsburgh atop the Atlantic Division standings after a 5-2 win...Devils sweep the season series - the Penguins actually came out flying in this one, getting the first goal...but it was all Devils from then on...five different goal scorers for New Jersey...for Pittsburgh, Chris Kunitz and Ruslan Fedotenko - it is clear to me the Penguins are just not the same team without Geno in the fold...and let's be honest - Alex Ponikarovsky CAN'T thread the needle which is Sidney Crosby's stick like Jarome Iginla can...

I love the vintage red helmets...including the vintage red goalie mask that Martin Brodeur was wearing...I don't know, it seems to me there are too many teams wearing red and black in the league - I don't think it would be a bad thing if the Devils decided to revert back to their old school colors...or at least wear the vintage colors more often...OK...so Minnesota is red and green, but it's a different shade of green...

Speaking of Crosby - the Golden Puck was permanently put on display at the Hockey Hall Of Fame today...

Calgary has an early 2-0 lead on Colorado - in a game they have to win if they want to keep the pace in the playoff race...they'll move within one point of Detroit if they can hang on for the win...

Blackhawks-Ducks a late start...conference positioning, as it pertains to Chicago more than Anaheim, the key in this one...with 14 games left in the Ducks' schedule they'd have to win every one of them to have at best an outside shot...they're 10 points removed from 8th going into action tonight...Chicago, on the other hand, continues to battle San Jose for 1st in the West...

11:15 PM: Dallas laid a beating on San Jose...8-2 the final...six different scorers lit the lamp, including Brenden Morrow with 2 and Mike Ribeiro with 2...don't know if the Stars are going to make it, but it looks like they're sure going to try...if only their road record was as respectable as their home record...at home, they're now 10 games above .500...on the road...6 games below...

Speaking of laying a beating...Islanders are still hanging on to a 2-0 lead in Vancouver after 20 minutes...

That's all for me tonight...key Atlantic division battle tomorrow between the Penguins and Devils - Pittsburgh, who are already without Malkin, found out today that Steve Downie will be fined $1000 for the charlie horse/knee play (or whatever that was) on Sidney Crosby in their game against Tampa on Sunday...I already mentioned New Jersey will be in their vintage green and red jerseys to celebrate St. Patrick's Day...evidently Martin Brodeur is going to wear a vintage mask...should be cool to watch...both teams are separated by a deuce...crucial 4 point game that one...

Calgary will be in Denver and Chicago will be in Anaheim...Flames are quickly losing ground in the west and really need this one...

10:45 PM: Nashville wins the shootout...I tell you what - that Martin Erat is a shootout specialist (too bad he's only 2 years into a 7 year contact)...he scored the only goal the Predators would need...Philadelphia gets a point, but will stay in 7th...one point back of Montreal...it's now 5-2 for the Stars over the Sharks...12 minutes left in that one...

Just reading over the final box score in the Nashville-Philly game...they listed Denis Grebeshkov as a scratch - he is day to day after having...ahem...surgery down there...eeeyouch!!!

Hard to believe Ville Leino can't get into a game with the Flyers...what is it with this guy?

10:41 PM: Rickard Wallin, of all people, got the empty net goal, and Toronto wins 4-1...

Montreal hung on for the 3-1 win against the Rangers...

So now it gets interesting - with the win - the Habs move into 6th, pushing Philadelphia down to 7th...Habs are now within 1 point of the Sens, and within 4 points of Buffalo...the Sabres have 2 games at hand on Ottawa and 3 games at hand on Montreal...

Washington ended up scoring 7...7-3 final against Florida...Phoenix held on for the 2-1 win over Tampa...Minnesota beat Edmonton 4-2...Colorado got by St. Louis 5-3...and Philadelphia and Nashville are in a shootout...

Dallas is up 4-2 against San Jose and the NY Islanders are up 2-0 against Vancouver?!...

Now let's talk Goal Differential...this just blows me away...

Washington has the best differential in the Eastern Conference by a mile - +79!!!  Compare that to Boston, who holds down the 8th and final playoff spot - they are a -3...

The Capitals hold a 59 goal difference in differential between themselves and Pittsburgh, who are +20...after that, New Jersey is +19...Philadelphia, who are struggling to stay in the playoff race - +18...

Montreal, who are making up ground, are -1...Ottawa, -14...the worst goal differential of any of the top 8...

So much for they don't ask how, just how many...and as we all know it won't amount to anything once we know the playoff qualifiers...

Speaking of New Jersey - if you can, make sure you tune in tomorrow night to see the Devils in their vintage throwback "Christmas Tree" jerseys...

9:36 PM: If the Senators want to stage a rally, now's the time - Leafs scored twice in 19 seconds, Sens have 14 minutes to even the score...

Atlanta 4  Buffalo 3 is now a final...looking like Jim Slater with the game winner...former Sabre Maxim Afinogenov has a goal in this one too...seems like the entire Northeast Division has gone south since the Olympics...

2-1 Wild over the Oil in the dying seconds of the second period...surprise, surprise...

9:34 PM: Even without Alex Ovechkin, Washington has put six goals on the board against Florida - and, yet again, six different goal scorers...it's 6-2 after 40...if I'm playing in the Eastern Conference right now and if I'm Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, the Rangers or even Tampa Bay - I'm avoiding that 1st round matchup like the plague...

Or...

Maybe Ottawa will end up there at the rate they're going...the hottest team going into the break is ice cold since, going 1-4-1, and down again tonight against Toronto 3-1...it was 3-0 up until the dying minutes of the second...Andy Sutton has his first in an Ottawa uniform...what was a tight game was blown open by two goals scored 19 seconds apart by the Leafs...a team out of the playoff picture...for a team that wants a crack at the division, they'd better pick it up - Buffalo is down 4-3 against Atlanta...late...don't count out the Thrashers yet either...

Bruins 5  Hurricanes 2 - that's just gone final...Habs and Rangers tied 1-1 in the 3rd...Boston puts some distance between the top eight and the bottom 7...3 point spread for the time being, pending the outcome at MSG...

It's 4-2 Colorado over St. Louis at about the 1/2way point - of note - Alex Steen scored 8 seconds into the game, breaking a Blues franchise record for fastest goal ever scored...make that 4-3 now...

Oilers-Wild tied 1-1 late in the 2nd...Stars up 1-0 over the Sharks after 1...Predators up 3-1 over Philadelphia in the 2nd...Coyotes up 2-1 against the Bolts in the 3rd...and Islanders-Canucks is a late start...

Habs just scored to make it 2-1...they are making the race interesting...this will be seven straight if they can hold on...

9:39 PM: Video gamers rejoice - the long wait is over for God Of War III...arguably one of the Playstation's most successful franchises - how successful?  This game has been in development dating back to the Playstation 3's origin.  The original God Of War and God Of War II on PS2 were both instant classics, so much that last fall they were revamped in HD format for the Playstation 3 as the God Of War Collection - a must if you've never played any of them...personally, I'll probably be still trying to get through that when God Of War III ends up in the bargain bin...

Evidently Future Shop, Best Buy and Game Stop stores are opening at Midnight...

In the End, There Will Be Only Chaos...and sleepless nights for my brother-in-law for the forseeable future...

For those who want to preview it first, large 3.5 GB Demo is available for download now from the Playstation Store...it has to be the largest game demo I've ever seen...

Still awaiting the release of Grand Theft Auto Episodes From Liberty City...two more weeks...

So many games...so little time...

9:20 PM: Let the debating commence!  Was the Ovechkin suspension enough, or not?

What I find most interesting was comments from one Mike Knuble, a team mate - "He has the reputation that he plays hard, but things seem to be happening around him,'' Knuble told The Washington Post. ''You would like to see him being more careful."  Now this is his own team mate...

Like I said earlier - 2 games was the minimum suspension - the league had to give him at least that much...it's a little extreme to suggest 15 games or the rest of the season.  I'm not one who buys into the theory that the suspension should fit the length of time the injured player misses.  Up until today we didn't really know how bad the Brian Campbell injuries were.  Needless to say, he'll miss the rest of the season, immediately casting a shadow of a doubt on Chicago's post season chances...funny how nobody seems to respect the Hawks, even after their run from a year ago...maybe they don't have all the pieces, but who really does at this point?

Anyhow - Ovie will be back in time for the weekend, when most everyone who doesn't catch up during the week will be watching anyway...

11:37 AM: Been awhile since I last blogged - but don't think for a second that I don't have my finger on the hockey pulse...

In case you missed the big news from yesterday - NBC's "Game Of The Week" had Washington visiting Chicago in what many were calling a potential early preview of the Stanley Cup Final (don't know if I'd go that far, yet...) - anyhow, Alex Ovechkin was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for a hit from behind on Brian Campbell, who left the game and never returned...Campbells status is up in the air at this point...

I really, really feel sorry for whatever team draws the Capitals in the playoffs (unless it ends up being Montreal - won't that be a great story - Jose Theodore against his former team)...for just about any other team, losing your star player like that would be deflating at best - but not for Washington - OK, so they fell behind 3-0, but thanks to another star player, Nick Backstrom - they managed to rally for 3 goals in the 3rd, and put the icing on the cake in OT - Caps win again...that team is just downright scary...nothing seems to phase them - they just go out and get it done...

Not sure if Ovie will face a suspension - keep in mind he already served a one game suspension earlier in the year for a similar incident...so that will weigh heavily on any decision Colin Campbell makes...if he doesn't get at least two games there is a serious double standard in the NHL - but we knew that already - right?

Only three games tonight - but they're huge...well at least two of them are...Boston faces New Jersey, and Calgary is in Detroit - the Flames could have really put some pressure on Detroit if they had managed to win in Vancouver last night, but the Canucks prevailed for the 2nd straight night at home by a final score of 3-1...much to my chagrin as had Calgary won I'd also have pulled within 1 game of uLAr in the weekend picks...I should have known better than to rely on a division rival...

The other game has virtually no implications on the playoff races - Edmonton finishes their Eastern Road trip in Columbus...

Still lots of hockey to be played...

11:58 AM: 2 minutes to noon on a great Thursday...looking like a great sunny day in Ottawa - the mercury is expected to reach upwards of 10-11 degrees Celcius...you can already feel the effects of Global warming - two years ago we got record snowfall, and last year as well was pretty brutal...this year, not so much...we've been able to see the grass since even before Valentine's Day...we had a couple of big storms since, but the snow all melted before it had a chance to accumulate...

Anyhow - I took a day off to allow a repair man to come and fix my Washing machine...with that all done, I think I'm going to spend the afternoon outside...maybe take a little trip downtown...as they get set to announce the Federal Budget, I'm going window shopping...too bad Payday is tomorrow...but, nevertheless, I think my body is screaming for some vitamin D...

Some very disturbing news today regarding Canada's national anthem.  Parliament will be asked to review the lyrics to "Oh Canada".  So just let me get this straight.  We already took "The Lord's Prayer" out of the classroom.  We stopped saying "Merry Christmas" in favor of "Happy Holidays" because God forbid it might offend someone (I hope I'm not offending anyone by mentioning God's name).  And now, they want to potentially change the lyrics of our national anthem?!  In question is the segment "True patriot love, in all thy sons command".  The consideration is change that to "O Canada Our home and native land! True patriot love thou dost in us command. We see thee rising fair, dear land, The True North strong and free."

You've got to be kidding me!! 

What next?  We change "God keep our land, glorious and free"?!!?  In the great immortal words of wisdom by John Lennon and The Beatles - "Let It Be".  I know we want to promote multiculturalism, but come on, where does it end?  Can you imagine what would happen south of the border if they suggested changing the lyrics to "The Star Spangled Banner"?!  I mean the song written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 is no more relevent today than Oh Canada, but they haven't ever considered for a second changing it.  As far as I'm concerned, let us at least keep something of historical relevance in this country!

Apparently, it's not the first time we've changed the lyrics to the song - "God keep our land glorious and free" was actually added to the song in 1968...

I guess at the same time we could consider scrapping the song altogether in favor of Canada's Second national anthem - the former Hockey Night In Canada theme...let's get somebody to write some lyrics to that...oh what's that?  Oh right...TSN owns the rights to it don't they?!...

Read more and join the debate: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2010/03/03/o-canada-anthem.html#ixzz0hEEloYxX
 

6:06 PM: Looks like we're done for trades for the 2009-10 season...and as far as I can tell, some of the same questions we were asking before the deadline, we're still asking after the deadline...such as - how will Washington and Chicago fare in the playoffs, having stayed the course with their goaltending?  How is it that Bryan Murray had to give up a 2nd round pick for Andy Sutton, when teams on deadline day were giving at worst a 3rd round pick for similar quality D?

Or...as uLAr put it to me, what did I expect from the same genius who gave us Tyler Arnason, Mike Commodore, Cory Stillman, and other deadline busts?

With the low quality of trades we saw this year, they're calling it the worst trade deadline since 2004...

While it didn't have the impact of losing a player like Ryan Smyth - losing Steve Staios, a quality guy to have in the room, is probably going to have the biggest impact on me...but, Oilers had to do something...I sure won't miss Staios' uncanny ability to take an untimely penalty late in games, that's for sure...but, honestly - Tambellini, did you really have to send him to CALGARY!?!?  I really like the Whitney deal...that one will stand out for me...even though it won't do much to help the team's lowly 44 points in the standings with only a month left in the season...

Oilers-Blackhawks at 8:30 EST...

4:57 PM: The Coyotes are just howling today - well, to revamp your roster you have to shed some salary too - they sent Anders Eriksson to the NY Rangers in exchange for G Miika Wiikman and a 7th round pick in 2011...talk about a salary dump...did the Rangers throw in some sticks and pucks too?

And Phoenix STILL isn't done - they also acquired F Petteri Nokelainen from Anaheim for a 6th round draft pick...once again, year to be determined...

Checking in on the Fredrik Modin deal to LA - the future considerations to Columbus has been upgraded to a conditional draft pick...my guess is depending on where the Kings end up at the end of the season...

Shouldn't be too many more, but I said that an hour ago...bring the count up to 30 trades involving 53 players and 25 draft picks...they'll once again call it the busiest deadline of all time, but as far as what these deals actually do for their respective teams?  There wasn't any particular deal that you can honestly say put any particular team over the top...

I like Brian Burke's take on it - he reminds us all he is not a big deadline guy (which historically, he's not) - if teams have to wait until March to build their team, they're in big trouble...not sure what that says about the Leafs showing in the standings this year, but anyhow...I'll give Burke a break, the past month and a half have been hard enough on him...in more ways than one...

4:43 PM: Earlier I was checking Carolina-Toronto's box score from last night, and realized Aaron Ward and F Stephane Yelle were both healthy scratches...well Ward was traded earlier, and it seems now Yelle has been too...Yelle goes back to Colorado, accompanied by F Harrison Reed - going in the other direction to Tobacco Rd - F Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll and a 6th round pick, year to be determined...

And yet another one - Phoenix has been busy today - they acquire F Alexandre Picard from Columbus (who have also been busy) in exchange for F Chad Kolarik

4:07 PM: Looks like we're not done...Edmonton sent "steady" Steve Staios to Calgary, in return for D Aaron Johnson and a 3rd round pick...they (the Oilers), also got a 6th round pick in the Visnovsky deal...Staios gets to play for his 3rd Canadian team...he's making the rounds...

We now know Vancouver gave up a 3rd round draft pick for Alberts - year to be determined...

Still unsure what they mean by "future considerations" in the Fredrik Modin deal...

Florida acquires former Oiler D Mathieu Roy from Columbus in exchange for "Rusty" - F Matt Rust...

D Lubomir Visnovsky will return to California - Edmonton sent him to Anaheim in exchange for D Ryan Whitney...not bad!!

Toronto acquires some more D depth - Chris Peluso comes over from Pittsburgh in exchange for a 6th round pick...

And for a team that wants to make some noise in the Western Conference, I'm a little surprised at this one - Calgary sends F Dustin Boyd to Nashville for a 4th round draft pick...

Not sure if we're done yet...but it's now 3:51...

3:18 PM: The reason I asked if Washington managed to secure a goalie is because they managed to shore up some more D - Joe Corvo is now a Capital...heading to Carolina - D Brian Pothier, F Oskar Osala, and a 2nd round draft pick, year to be determined...

Another goalie did move - Toronto sent G Joey MacDonald to Anaheim for a 7th round draft pick in 2011...

Los Angeles got Fredrik Modin out of Columbus for future considerations...and still unclear as to what Carolina got out of Vancouver in the Alberts deal...

3:13 PM: 2 draft picks to Toronto in the Stempniak deal - a 4th and 7th rounder...

Did Washington get a goalie?  We'll find out...more to come...

3:08 PM: Lee Stempniak goes back to the Western Conference - this time to Phoenix - draft picks heading to Toronto...what a surprise...

Evidently Vancouver has acquired Andrew Alberts from Carolina...

As the buzzer beaters start trickling in...still really nothing of substance to report today...even though we've had almost 20 deals...

2:59 PM: 6th round pick heading to Columbus in the Jurcina deal with Washington...

2:54 PM: Buffalo brings in a forward, sends a forward packing - F Clarke MacArthur is going to Atlanta - Buffalo gets a 3rd and 4th round draft pick, years to be determined...

And Washington gets some help on D - Milan Jurcina - going back to Columbus, unsure as of yet...

Apparently - the word on Edmonton's street about Sheldon Souray - he has a hand infection and is done for the season - how in the hell do you get a Hand Infection!?!?  I could understand if they still used wooden sticks...

I'll stop there just in case any kids are reading this...

2:22 PM: Raffi Torres is going to Buffalo...going to Columbus - D Nathan Paetsch and a 2nd round draft pick...year to be determined...so now instead of seeing him play four times a year, I'll see him six times a year...I would imagine Torres and Chris Neil will get under each other's skin...

2:15 PM: More on the Schneider trade - Vancouver gets D Sean Zimmerman and a conditional 6th round pick in 2010...

2:07 PM: No trade for Steve Ott - he signed a 4 year extension with Dallas...

Calgary has apparently traded G Curtis McElhinney to Anaheim...for another goalie - Vesa Toskala...it's Toskala's second trade this season - this one reunites him with Darryl Sutter and Miikka Kiprusoff, who you'll recall, was considered a third string goalie in San Jose before being traded to Calgary and going on that finals run...

1:45 PM: Washington gets another depth player - F Eric Belanger from Minnesota, for a 2nd round draft pick...

Edmonton claimed F Ryan Jones off waivers from Nashville...

1:32 PM: Evidently lunch is over...

Phoenix has acquired D Mathieu Schneider from Vancouver, evidently for an "undisclosed" draft pick, and Los Angeles has acquired F Jeff Halpern from Tampa Bay for F Ted Purcell and a 3rd round pick...

1:29 PM: Every year when I keep my finger on the pulse of the trades, it always seems we get a lull at this time of the day (General Managers need to eat sometime I guess!)...then BAM...the blockbusters and last minute deals start flowing in...such is the case now...just a little over an hour and a half to the deadline...of course, we'll hear about deals right up until 6 PM as the buzzer beaters get registered with the NHL and players themselves are notified...

I'm 15 minutes to my lunch break, so I'll get a good chance to watch the commentary on TSN...

1:09 PM: Here's an earth shattering move - Detroit acquires F Jordan Owens from the NY Rangers in exchange for F Kris Newbury...

T minus 1 hr 50 minutes...

12:46 PM: Carolina appear to be sellers (big surprise) - F Scott Walker has gone to Washington for a 7th round pick...

Vancouver has acquired F Yan Stastny from St. Louis for F Pierre-Cedric Labrie - I'm sure the Canucks would rather have Paul Stastny, but that's not going to happen...I think...on a day like today you never know...

And it looks like Phoenix is for real - they acquired F Wojtek Wolski from Colorado in exchange for F Peter Mueller and C Kevin Porter...if anything this clears up cap space for both teams...both players can score...call it even on that one...

11:49 AM: So it's Seidenberg and D Matthew Bartowski headed to Boston, forwards Byron Bitz and Craig Weller along with a 2nd round pick heading to Sunrise...

Just announced - D Aaron Ward headed to Anaheim - in return to Carolina, G Justin Pogge and a 4th round pick...hmmm...clearly the Ducks have decided that Jonas Hiller is the guy...

11:35 AM: I can't believe the Florida Panthers are doing this - they allowed D Dennis Seidenberg to go to Boston...details for who is going the other way still to be determined...

11:18 AM: Brian Burke seems to want to stockpile draft picks again - he just sent newly acquired D Martin Skoula to the New Jersey Devils for a 5th round draft pick...

Pittsburgh acquires F Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto for F Luca Caputi and D Martin Skoula (there's the cap space they needed to clear out)...

And a couple more:

Montreal sends F Matt D'Agostini to St. Louis for F Aaron Palushaj

And D Derek Morris is going back to the Desert - Phoenix acquired him from Boston for a 4th round pick in 2011 - smart move for Phoenix, they can use Morris in their playoff drive...

Boston got D Steve Kampfer out of Anaheim, for a conditional pick...probably the one they just got from Phoenix...

More to come as I hear about it...

Clearly players who played at the Olympics are tired, and those who didn't haven't got their game legs back yet after a two week break...it's painful to watch in all honesty...

And Edmonton-Nashville - forget about it...7th of the year for Denis Grebeshkov as a member of his new team...watch him score a bucketful now...

Alex Ponikarovsky is apparently close to being dealt to Pittsburgh - provided they can clear some cap space...at least this according to Sportsnet...but I'm not taking the bait on this one until it's official...these are the same people who reported Dany Heatley to Edmonton was official, when in fact it wasn't...

I'll be here all day tomorrow scouring the Internet for news...if you can't get to TSN or Sportsnet, just keep it here...we have plenty of room...

Coming up at 10:30 - New Jersey visits San Jose...oh that one should be a fun one...members of Team Canada and Team USA have to put on their NHL team jerseys...you have to feel for a team like New Jersey - Martin Brodeur, Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise all on the same team...facing Dan Boyle, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Dany Heatley...not to mention Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov...oh to be a fly on the wall of both of those dressing rooms...

In Pittsburgh, the crowd gave Ryan Miller a standing ovation before the game between the Pens and Sabres...apparently it was an even bigger ovation than they gave Sidney Crosby...imagine that if you're born and raised in Pittsburgh - torn between the country who lost the Gold Medal Game thanks to the captain of the home team who won the Stanley Cup last year...ouch!!!

7:33 PM: Well, as much as I goof on Gary Bettman, I have to give him credit where credit is due - when Wayne Gretzky retired, he immediately retired his #99 league wide - no questions asked...as it should be...

I can't believe the NBA is only deciding now to retire Michael Jordan's #23 (although, maybe they wanted to make sure he was retired for good)...which means LeBron James will have to change his number...if he remains with Cleveland (he is a free agent after this season), he has filed papers with the league requesting a uniform change to #6, in honor of another of his idols - Julius Erving...good old Dr. J...

7:25 PM: OK...here are a few moves, and a few I didn't realize before the Olympic Break...

Last trade I reported was Tollefsen to Detroit.  On the same day - we had Chicago acquiring Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy from Minnesota for Cam Barker...

Jody Shelley became a New York Ranger - heading to San Jose, a conditional sixth round draft pick...and we talked about Ottawa getting Matt Cullen from Carolina for Alex Picard and a 2nd round pick...Carolina also got a second round pick from San Jose, in exchange for a fifth round pick and Niclas Wallin...

And that was all before the Olympics...

Here's what has happened since yesterday:

Edmonton sent Denis Grebeshkov to Nashville for a second round pick

Columbus acquired Greg Moore from the NY Islanders for Dylan Reese

Pittsburgh acquired Jordan Leopold from Florida for a second round pick

Anaheim acquired Nathan Oystrick and a conditional 2011 draft pick from Atlanta for Evgeny Artyukhin

Ottawa acquired Andy Sutton from the NY Islanders for a second round pick

Edmonton and Boston swapped minor leaguers - Matt Marquardt goes to Edmonton, Cody Wild goes to Boston

Here's a big one just announced about 45 minutes ago:

Chicago acquired Nick Boynton from Anaheim for future considerations...seems the Hawks are stocking up on D...

The Blackhawks also traded for a goalie - Hannu Toivonen from St. Louis along with Danny Richmond, heading to St. Louis minor league goalie Joe Fallon...does this put Cristobal Huet on the trade block?

Evidently, Alex Ponikarovsky is a healthy scratch tonight for Toronto as they play Carolina...

And finally - Atlanta signs, get this - Chris Chelios...the headline reads as follows: "Chili Not Cooked"...

I don't make this stuff up folks...

Seems Patrice Bergeron, fresh off his Gold medal with Team Canada, tweaked a groin, and won't play for Boston against the Habs tonight...he is day to day...

Also it appears Philadelphia's Ray Emery will undergo season ending Hip surgery...so much for my prediction of them making it back to the conference finals...if they're lucky they might make the playoffs...

And as if it could't get any worse for the Oilers this season - Nikolai Khabibulin was charged with "extreme DUI" and excessive speed after his black Ferrari was pulled over in Scottsdale, Arizona over the weekend...apparently he was caught doing 60 in a 45 mile zone (93 km/h in a 72 km/h zone)...extreme DUI is when a person's blood alcohol level is more than .15

More to come as it happens!!

3:36 PM: No rest for the wicked, it would appear.  Believe it or not, there is one NHL game tonight, as the post Olympic schedule gets underway...Detroit is in Denver as the Red Wings play against the Avalanche at 9:00 PM EST...the drive to the playoffs starts in earnest for both teams...more so for Detroit, than Colorado...look for Paul Stastny to have a huge chip on his shoulder after playing in the Gold Medal game yesterday for Team USA...

And continuing to prove the theory that he's 1/2 Canadian, 1/2 Russian, and also proving that he can lose with dignity (again) - Alex Ovechkin was on record as saying Canada deserved the win yesterday...about whether or not it bothered him that his Pittsburgh rival Sidney Crosby scored the GWG - "In that moment, it doesn't matter"...

Trade rumors are flying today...after almost landing him for Dany Heatley last summer, it seems Ottawa is still trying to get Ladislav Smid out of Edmonton...and I'm sure as we move along there'll be more to come...trade deadline is Wednesday at 3:00 PM...T minus 47 hours, and counting...

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