Saturday, November 30, 2013

Senators rally from two goals down to beat Capitals

**five on five caps have been suckin all year, now special teams are going down too. PK cant kill a penalty and the PP looks like the PP of my roller hockey team. I am beginning to believe this coaches dont have what it takes to get out the potential of this team. And Please Adam Oates Get angry or scream once in a while

**Well anyone could with those players. I also doubt it would be double, as Ovi already is playing with a top center.

**now i know all the hate will come, but hear my reasons, he accounts for 29,5% of CAPS offense name one other player that has that much, but they still lose the games cause the score he puts up, gets erased by the opposite team in 2 mins, as much as i love watching OVI play in the RED, lets be realistic if he stays here HE IS NOT GONNA WIN A CUP, and ill rather see him win a cup in his 20s then when he gets traded close to retirement to make a last min effort to win the cup and if that fails then he retires, his only chance of winning a cup is if he goes to a contending team. WAKE UP CAPS FAN THIS IS REALITY

**Watching the highlights, Anderson really didn't play badly at all. The Laich goal was a bit weak on his part, but the others are the fault of the defense. Or Grant.

**It's funny, where are the Spezza haters tonight? I'm pretty sure if they had lose every haters would be there saying it's Spezza fault, but when they rally to win a game nobody come to say that maybe spezza have done something right as a captain.

**I'm still not impressed. The Captain should be there and going out every game to win. So far he hasn't done that. Perhaps he needs to ease into the position, but you would think that having an A for so long would have taken care of that. Time will tell I suppose.

**I still think the big problem is him trying to be in Alfie's shoes. He's arguably more talented than Alfie, and if this team started playing like everyone knows they can, and started playing as Team Spezza, we'd be much better off. give him a season, he'll step up.

**Nice one sens! Happy to see that the wings aren't the only ones you can score 6 goals against. Go Atlantic! Keep it tight and exciting

**I actually liked hearing the American broadcast up here. Our guys tend to sugar coat everything, trying to put a positive spin on horrible plays.

**disagree, I thought Holtby played awful, let in a couple point blank shots he should have had. Anderson on the other hand could maybe have stopped 1 goal, 2 others were on a very good redirect and the 3rd was a wide open 1 timer on the post.

**Ok, I look at the summary and I see like 3-4 fights. Where the hell are they in the replays???? Who is in charge here...Captain Europe, lets see those scraps

**My brother and I saw the 6-4 score, and I gambled 5$ that Ov scored a goal with him. Obviously he cant score every game haha, still the best there is. And btw if the caps want to win games, they will have to do a better use of Grabovsky, the way he is used is just too awful, I feel bad for him, he has 19 points but the coach still gives more ice time to Brouwer . WAKE UP OATES!

**Sens' first periods are horrendous. Most games that they lost were gone before 20 minutes. If the Sens can improve that they'll be good. That 2nd was unbelievable for them, though.

**Going to the Sens/Nucks game tomorrow. Get to see both teams I like. Love living in Ottawa. Glad they pulled this off, I'm in the middle of essay season and on my bus ride home I just get kept notifications about Washington scoring, came back home, Sens tied it. Great effort. Let's see a great game in the evening!

**That first period for the sens was brutally bad, good that they came back and won, but we will not see playoff hockey at all if we continue to have large portions of the game where the team falls asleep and lets the other team just walk on in

**For those Caps fans who still don't know, according to Orlov's agent, the guy asked for a trade as well, good luck with this defense in the remaining of the season.

**When this team peaked in 2010, things looked promising, they were literally a piece or two away from being a sure fire cup contending team. Since then, they have traded to get and lost or let go of Semin, Fedorov, Kozlov, Ribeiro, Cody Eakin, Varlamov, Fliechsman, Hannon, Hammerlik, Fillip Forsberg, Jason Arnott, Matt Cooke, Matthew Perrault, Now Erat and orlov have both asked for a trade. Obviously concerned with adam oates. Players often question preparation and effort after losses in the locker room. When a player speaks out like Holtby, other guys like brouwer and laich speak him down. Grabovski continues to get 3rd line minutes when he is arguably the teams 3rd best forwrad after Ovi and Nicky. Oates refuses to put Grabovski on the Powerplay. Oates refuses to play the best line up on a nightly basis because he thinks Right on Right and Left on Left is the only way it works. Somehow 100 years of hockey have passed and not one coach has thought of oates genius plan. I could keep going... Folks the ship is sinking. Sadly, when Oates gets fired at the end of this year, Ovechkin, the guy who deserves the least amount of blame for this mess, will be called a coach k!ll3r and cancer by the general public media because they don't know any better. Good night.

**Pretty much. McPhee can best be summed up as a numbers guy who has made way too many contractual mistakes and has overestimated the value of his players or players signed.

**You seem to be one of those who creates panic, blame everybody and crying hysterically... Players u mentioned in your list are all have different story and some of them had to go... Some are should have stay and accommodated in their demands (Ribeiro)... Still, it has nothing to do with the way this team is playing right now... For some reason, Laich and Brouwer are in very bad shape (physical and mental)... GMGM for many years unable to build strong D lines... So, now it is owner call

**I am confused as to why caps fans are sold on Holtby. Personally I think he is garbage, and the caps will never go far with him. He does not have the ability to single handedly win games like top goalies in the league. Trade Holtby, trade Erat, and bring Orlov up to make him happy. He should be in the top 4 anyway. This organization is being run horribly.

**What? Holts has been the reason we haven't lost every game. He doesn't make a lot of saves, but he makes important ones. Tonight he wasn't on his game, but trading Holtby before Neuvy? No way. Neuvy needs out. And as for Erat, they are trying to trade him! He wants out, but GMGM can't just make a trade overnight! GMGM is terrible, I agree, but its not his fault he hasn't made a trade yet, its a slow process!

**yes that's true but Washington isn't quite in our division, they will finish top 3 in that division so we wouldn't move any where, I see if Ottawa can come top 5 in the Atlantic division then they should make playoffs, the metropolitan division just isn't that strong besides Pittsburgh,Washington, rangers will make playoffs just cause there division is so weak..that being said Washington is having problems with players wanting out which may cause some problems in the dressing room...only time will tell



Jets hold off slumping Islanders

**Does anyone on the Isles except Tavares actually create some offense? I get the impression that the team thinks, "well, Tavares will score anyway, so why should I add some offense?".

**Tough game. Ill take the win. Outside of the Jets, the Islanders are the team I cheer for most. Hope they turn it around. Love Okposo. So gritty! Every team would love to have the guy! Turn it around guys and lets hope you get the rematch with the Pens!

**Lets be real here. If we really look at WHY the Isles are doing so bad it's because of injuries. Lubo is still of and may not even come back because of a concussion, he was the team's veteran d. Strait is out as well, and though he isn't the greatest, he still helps by having experience, whereas call-ups don't have it yet. Lastly, Nabby is out and though he isn't a #1 goalie, he's OUR #1 goalie, and we need that. I love Poulin's play, but he still needs to eased into things, rather than just straight out of the gate consistent starts. Other than that, we were doing fine with the team we had before hand. One that changes who knows, we could get back into it. We didn't look too bad tonight. It was close!

**The Rangers and Islanders are NOT going to make a deal for Del Zotto or anyone else. The two bitter rivals have notoriously not been trading partners since the Isles joined the league in 1972, completing only 2 deals in history that I can recall. Does anybody remember any trades that have been made between them?

**Why instead of guys like Carkner,Regin, Ness Donovan do they not let Strome and Reinhart come up and play. I mean are they gonna be worse? I feel like the Islanders always wait and wait on bringing these guys up where other teams play there top Draft picks. Am i wrong?

**Charles, please trade poor John Tavares to a team that will appreciate his greatness and surround him with similiarly talented people so he doesn't have to do everything every night.....What a waste of a great player

**not JT, trade wang, capuano, scouts and coaches, then lose some of the dead weight on top of the scrap heap called the NY Islanders --they are really lousy, a team that has no idea how to win but is finding as many ways as possible to lose

**I'm really starting to miss the East. One can only imagine where the Jets may be if they had once more season there. I did also called this one being close before the game, Isles always give the Jets a tough time. GO JETS GO!!!

**Honestly, it was just a bad stretch of play, but the Isles weren't too bad tonight. Not even Carkner, which I never thought I'd say. Ness and Donovan were strong on the puck (minus the miscue that led to Ladd's beauty of a give-and-go), but I'm happy I went to the Old Barn tonight and Poulin looked strong minus his tendency to give up those seemingly harmless shots from the point that can redirect.

**Isles had some tough puck luck tonight, some posts, near misses in the crease, fortunate saves from Montoya. Bad luck eventually runs it's course though, I still see this team getting the third seed in the Metro. Five games above .500 might be enough to get in at the end of the year.

**It's not too late, this is November, the 2nd month of the season. There's still plenty of time to turn it around, especially when you consider how weak the rest of the division has been. Last year, this team lost 7 straight at the beginning of February, and still made the playoffs.

**not to worry Devils fans you have Lou Lamoriello, and as long as he's there Devils will be in thick of things --they almost made history last year after such a bad start and with so much lost talent... wish Isles had someone as good as Lou...

**So do the Blue Jackets right now :( It's been a tough season for the Metro division. *Gives virtual hugs to Devils and Isles fans* I hope it gets better.

**i was at the game tonight 3 goals in 5 minutes i mean really? But this is hockey it happens gotta turn it around soon or this season is lost. Good game big Al always liked you as a goalie

**I really hope Lubo gets healthy soon.. Defense really needs work. I also wonder how long Cappy has left on the Island.. Front office cannot be happy with this start.. Hopefully we bust out of whatever we're in right now, and get back in the W column! Fan till the end, we survived Milbury, we can survive anything! LGI!!

**Great job Jets! Also good comeback from the Isles near the end for a nail biter. Any one else notice the singer messed up the Canadian national anthem a little? Good thing she is cute.

**Really happy the Jets came out with the win. My heart was pounding from the minute the Isles got their second goal until the game ended. I'm curious as to where the Jets would be standing if they were still in the East.

**Good game. I appreciate underdog teams that play with heart and passion, and both the Jets and the Islanders have a lot of that. If I lived in New York, I'd for sure be an Islanders fan, and I was so happy to see their luck changing last season. With Vanek healthy now, I think they're going to start figuring out a system that works for them. Sometime soon, perhaps even this year, I'd love to see both of these teams in the playoffs.

**Once again feels like the Jets are just daring the opposition to tie it up in the third. Gotta get more consistent for 60. That being said, glad to see win #2 on the trip and some improvements on key areas like face-offs.

**I guess it would be, with that record lately. Hopefully now that we're through with them the Isles will go on a roll. They had their moments tonight but sure don't seem to be firing on all cylinders these days. Anyway, big win for us so thanks.

**Jets were lucky that the Kings just didn't seem to have room on their defence, with their depth for Ellerby. Their loss appears to be the Jets' gain! Ellerby plays really well with another newer Jet, Adam Pardy. Hopefully he will find his way back into the lineup soon. Good to have Stuart and Trouba back too.

**Mark Stuart and Keaton Ellerby both plus 3 this game...very interesting...Ellerby's been a nice pick up!



Ward's late save helps Hurricanes beat Devils

**The Hurricanes are starting to get thing together. What I am loving is we are rolling 4 lines that can score for the first time since 2006. And With Ward back in net, the players can relax and play their game knowing Ward will keep them in the game. The Devils did make things interesting in the 3rd and it should make for an exciting game Friday night. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

**Patrick Daywer wished us all a happy thanks giving, and I do to. so Happy American Thanksgiving

**His stick save the other night was more amazing. It's very important to have him back there.. even though Peters played some good games, the offense seems much more relaxed knowing Cam is in net.

**Hm.... NJ did not clear its crease and Canes used that. Very clever. Put someone in front of Marty, then crash the net with a second forward while NJs defense makes a picknic at the blue line. It was not Marty who was bad this time, it was the defense that was subpar. And Ward made some great saves.

**Yea but that lil ray of sunshine is burning out soon. Along with Elias and Marty. That is after losing Parise,Kovi and Clarkson. Plus your Organization is going bankrupt. No to add insult to injury but Lou L. Know the business inside and out.

**Clarkson hasn't exactly been a top scorer in Toronto this season so I wouldn't count his loss as very much. Not to mention Jagr and Elias are still showing they are top forwards at their age. And Brodeur has been playing very well.

**thats what happens when you play marty. corey has every right to be frustrated and now marty has a three game losing streak . You think Deboer would learn? he needs to go

**when you have see players like daneyko stevens white nidermayer.lemieux arnott etc...how can we draft and give some minutes to tedenby harold fayne or loktioghost......i can t believe the organisation think this guy s can take the cup in the future.if we play the offseason this is a good but im not sure of that

**Haha, at 1:45, you hear Carter literally scream "MARTY" for him to pass the puck over. Great job by Ward. Completely stole the game. Schenider should have started this game in my opinion. Especially after his performance against the Kings. This team just needs to learn how to finish and how to play a solid 60 minute game, then I think we will be on the right track.

**seriously no luck at all(even such an thing called luck does not exist) but last 2 games we hit goal post once per game, elias "own goal", zajac cant nail it even he had everything served on a silver plate. alot of things seems to be so much pain, we couldnt score even our lifes were dependent on it. wheres ryder and brunner? not to mention that only line which can create constatly something is that zubrus-zajac-jagr line and thats everything we got at the moment.

**Good stuff seeing the offense continue to roll. Not too thrilled with the team sitting back in the third, but two points is two points. I'm sure they will rectify that and come out strong on Friday.

**That was one awesome save by Ward on Henrique!!! Go Canes!! Bring that same intensity on Friday.

**wow that was the nice close game I was expecting from these two teams



Canadiens beat Sabres for fourth straight win

**I love when Habs fans get excited about their team. Whats different about them this year from the last 5 years? Montreal is junk, no elite forwards, an overrated defence and a shaky goalie. Lets see how Desharnais and the boys finish at the end of the year

**LOL, i'd like to hear what your team is, since you're too much of a coward to have a team logo/ admit who you cheer for....also who's your team's goalie/top defencemen that you're dreaming are better than price/subban...?

**I wore a classic Montreal jersey that I've owned for 10 years for the first time. With my Sabres' hat, cheering for my Sabres. It was all in good fun, the Habs' fans were super nice and classy. My first front row glass experience. Couldn't believe how many Habs' fans were there. A team I don't mind seeing do well, though I hope my Sabres end low with dignity, not the worst record ever seen. First overall pick baby! (gotta get something out of this down year) plus Markov is on my fantasy team! 3 assists... nice.

**im a habs fan, but im really hoping the sabres can turn it around, i really hope they can do it with Ted Nolan as the coach as well

**The whole team is gelling right now and Gallagher seems to be the catalyst, the D has been solid and Price has been lights out... The classy comments from fans across the league are much appreciated. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to our neighbors to the south.

**that last 2 weeks made him a laughing stock to everyone, even guys we had no quarrel with. Everyone just seemed to hop aboard the bandwagon and proceed to run him over. Quite honestly it was sickening to see that happen. However, we still were missing the key component in the Habs D-corp for all of October and yet Price still played spectacularly.

**The Sabres actually have quite a few guys who just aren't playing to their potential. But I do agree that there isn't one that could carry the team. That's why they need a full team effort to have a chance at winning, which they just aren't doing.

**I always thought that Subban would'nt be so easily knocked off the puck. After seeing him drop down to the ice just before the Sabres goal, I do have some concern about his balance on ice. Players like Scott Stevens, Rob Blake or Niklas Lidstrom posessed way more stability.

**No, no, no... watch that play closely... Subban was turning, head up and looking in, and he was CROSS-CHECKED clearly on his numbers on the back of the jersey and driven down. I was stunned that the refs didn't call the cross-check, then I remembered that the game was being played in Buffalo. I'm surprised Therrien didn't make a comment about that in his post-game interview so Toronto could look at it and ding the ref team for not calling it.

**You clearly don't watch a lot of Habs games... Subban can fend off most attackers with one arm, people lost balance and I doubt he was even expecting to get hit (which was wrong). He also didn't have a very good all around game.

**I was at the game just behind the Sabres bench. When Miller got pulled for the extra man I yelled to him that the ship had sunk. I think he lowered his head:) And the Maple Laffs blow a 3 goal lead and lose in OT to Pittsburgh. Everything is back to normal in the NHL universe again:) Ahhhh.

**I'm hoping you weren't wearing a Habs jersey. That's pretty juvenile. Pathetic too. Miller is a class professional. I've been to Sabres homes games to see the Habs. Arena security and the fans (mostly Sabre fans) in the area of the Habs bench would always allow us to come down from the upper sections where our seats were, to see and greet our Habs players, in the pregame warm-up. I've always been thankful, and impressed, for that.

**Like I posted on TSN, this Leafs team is just terrible. Thumbs me down all you want but it's true. After getting blown out 6-0 on Monday they come into Pittsburgh and take a commanding 4-1 lead, and then blow it. Outshot 48-24 total that is ridiculous, poor Bernier is getting hung out to dry and that's not even the worst part. The worst part IMO was getting ZERO shots on net in the entire 3rd period when they have a 2 goal lead...that's brutal. This team being the leafs have the same record as the habs, but your concern for the leafs is much appreciated. quit trolling please as it turns out you guys are ruing these chat boards for hockey fans. Leaf fans are aware of their team. thx.

**don't mean to impose on your board but I was trying to get the attention of one of your key trolls and trying to remind him his bull is not necessary and guys like him ruin these chat boards. the guy posted on the leaf board and has posted similar garbage in the past.

**How was that trolling? I was saying the truth, sorry you can't take it. And last time I looked that comment had like 10 thumbs up with several Leaf fans agreeing with me. Go cry somewhere else.

**I wouldn't mind that either, but the reason I think it should be Markov is because he's been around longer, and if he gets signed to an extension, will likely be in Montreal till he retires. Seems fitting to give him the captaincy for his last few years with MTL.

**Plekanec still has two years after this (absolutely no need to extend at this moment in time) and Markov is 35 years old with a a horrific history of knee injuries and you want to give him a 4 year deal that would probably be a cap hit of 4-5 mill? Markov should get a 2 year deal and we can wait a year or two to see what the story is with Plekanec.



Friday, November 29, 2013

Stars erupt in third period to beat Ducks

**Dallas had the mojo going for sure. Cant say I've seen a 5 goal period in while. So fun to watch :D Ducks looked tired, even in the first 2 periods.

**Stars looking more and more like the outside playoff contender a lot of people predicted... I think there's a good chance Minny and Phoenix plateau and let them back into the race. Goal difference is often a good indication of how a team is really playing, Colorado are IMO playing great whereas Minny and Phoenix have been getting a little lucky.

**Only when we are on National TV when we decide not to play. PPG line did not show up for most of the game and our AHL defense was just out powered by Dallas' speed. Wake up and get back into the game with a full 60 minute push not just 30! Good win by Dallas, never give up and keep pushing hard.

**You can only hope for containment with the Stars, but on this night it didn't happen. Is there a more explosive team in hockey?

**he rolls 4 lines all night... so not quite. plus they are beasts and can handle more ice time if given, but bruce doesn't need to do that anyways. ducks will be fine if they pay attention and play for the full 60 mins. they have a tendency to take the occassional period off and it usually costs them the win. need to start learning from these big costly mistakes...

**I"m not saying the Ducks should trade Hiller immediately like most uneducated fans on FB or Twitter are saying. But Outside of the Islanders, and Flames…. Are there really any other deals? Why would Nashville want Hiller when they have Rinne? I heard Forsberg isn't happy in Nashville as well. I personally think the ducks will either trade Hiller at the deadline, or just ride him till their season ends.

**Are you saying that you have not watched any English movies or series? I watched Misfits from TV and their English was so hard to understand.. You know, that slang which the youth sometimes use in England? My point is that, although it's english, I couldn't understand what they were saying.

**Dude i only watch the following channels on my Direct TV satelite dish. ABC , CBS, NBC, FOX, HBO, PBS, Showcase, Country Music Channe. Don Cherry on CBC Hockey Night In Canada.

**I can say without a doubt that I have not watched an English TV show or movie. Kind of weird I guess...

**Perhaps I haven't watched one that was tough enough for me yet, but I've never needed them. For the most part if you don't understand something you can use context clues to figure it out. And a lot of the slang is like cursing anyways haha

**If it's something like Top Gear, then no, but for something like Scottish television, absolutely.

**did you notice your team played without Beauchemin, Allen, Spisa and of course, still without Souray ? That's without four regular defensemen! Quite tough with that many injuries..

**the crazy schedule seems to have caused many injuries throughout the league. Kings are out of Quick, Trevor Lewis, Matt Frattin, and we just had Kyle Clifford and Jeff Carter return after couple of weeks off for injuries. Zach Parise just got injured, the Wings are out of Bertuzzi and DeKeyser and Datsyuk (although that was from an elbow to the chin) that's only from what I remember... at least the Kings are deep enough in forwards that we kept on winning with the Manchester kids coming up Tanner Pearson - Linden Vey - Tyler Toffoli and Scrivens kicking it up a notch.

**Not that the Blues didn't deserve the win, but the Stars were in no way outplayed. In my opinion a couple of unlucky bounces and a below-mediocre effort by Kari made the game a blowout instead of the tight game I thought it should have been.

**Totally agree, playing 14 straight will get anyone exhausted! Nice to get a win out of Ellis before Blackhawks on friday. Lord knows we need Kari on top of his game against that sinister team!

**Nice win, stars! Every time I see Vernon fiddler I think angry bieksa face & AV cracking up! What a great showing by the 4th line! What's going on w/the top line? Wasn't able to watch, but 1st line has been a little quiet it seems as of late.

**It's hardly Hiller's fault when the defense is not showing up for the Ducks in the last few games. Plain and simple the Ducks got out hustled by the Stars and Hiller wasn't able to stand on his head for them tonight.

**I like Fowler but he has been inconsistent this season. There were games he played real well and then there are games like last night. I understand a lot of pressure is on him with all our veteran defensemen injured but I expect more out of him after 3 full NHL seasons under his belt.

**It's good that (most of) you guys aren't completely trashing Hiller. It honestly, wasn't his fault. Also, he played really well in the games leading up to this one, so lets not dub this well proven ducks goalie "horrible" just yet. He's the best you got right now.

**The Ducks have been playing horrible in the 3rd period these last few games. We always have players getting injured, we're missing a lot of our roster which is not helping us.. We also need to trade Hiller asap and get Anderson back in the net. We can get a decent recruit for Hiller and that's exactly what we need. Very sloppy game Ducks, step it up.

**Ah..too bad these teams couldn't both lose. Don't really like either. Dallas has some nice new jerseys, but the team wearing em is no more than a bunch of thugs. Too bad Anaheim couldn't host it's own outdoor game, it would just end up a massive puddle. Wait, why do you have an NHL team again? Well that was a nice little troll stroll.

**Well, he did include "troll stroll" at the end, so it probably doesn't matter either way. Also, I think Anaheim has a hockey team because it generates moolah [/captain-obvious]. Other interesting factoid: the team's name is related to the large population of fearless Polar Ducks that roam the Anaheim countryside. As for Dallas being thugs, umm, I, I don't, uhh, what?!?! Since when? Unless Brett Hull came back from retirement, I don't think they deserve that reputation.

**Theyre 17-7-3... yah something must be wrong... theyve played the most games in the NHL and the majorty of games played have been on the road. last night (like every other night) they were missing 4 top defensemen. Sbisa, Beauch, Allen, and Souray. throw in Silvferberg and Koivu while youre at it.... A breakdown like this was bound to happen sooner or later. Honestly cant believe it took this long. Wait for them to have their full blue line and top fowards and for the schedule to turn in their favor and this is going to be one DANGEROUS team.

**I saw a bit of both. Now that you mention it, God, too, may have had something to do with it. I love watching the Stars when their offence is explosive, mostly because (by comparison) when they don't play well they bore me half to death. Same goes for the Blues and Canucks - they're either amazing to watch or sub-par at best - not very often in between.

**Actually, if you read my little speech there (won't blame you if you didn't), I called him out because he basically put down the Stars and Ducks while only saying "LET'S GO FLYERS". That much should be clear from my comment. If he'd at least mentioned his team without the "who cares" part then it wouldn't have been trollarific. Besides, I wasn't aware that the mere mention of another team's name means I'm trolling (despite the fact that my previous comment here was obviously not limited in focus to the Blue and Canucks). The comparison was made between the Stars and the other two teams. If that's not clear then maybe I'll start taking whatever p!lls you're talking about (and possibly taking) until we're on the same wavelength. :)

**Dallas colorman Daryl Reaugh. Also the 2nd most interesting man in my opinion



Kings rally late, beat Canucks on Kopitar's OT goal

**Daniel Carcillo is not much of a hockey player, but if he were in a gang, he would get some respect. He "played" two seasons in Chicago, and had as many suspensions as goals scored.

**yeah last night Carcillo looked really good, made some great passes and stuck up for his team. I can see on the bench and how he acts around his fellow players that he wants to be in the NHL and he wants his team to play well and win. Players can change and it looks like he is doing so so far this season. Don't open your mouth if it doesn't need to be opened.

**Never would have thought that we'd get such great play and so much value out of Ben Scrivens. That kid has really stepped up. But the team has also been pretty careful not to get caught up ice, the way they might if Quick were in net or we still had Bernier. Meanwhile, though, we get to listen to kvetching fans from a team that has brainless thugs like Kassian, and jerk royal pains like Alex Burrows, complain about Nolan? Remember, the cheap shot that Willie Mitchell took from Stanton at the beginning of that scuffle was to his knee -- that takes real class, but it comes from a team that constantly proves that it'll write checks with cheap shots that it's unwilling to cash with its fists.

**It was just pointed out to me how there is no way the Kings retain Scrivens. He's only on the payroll for 550K and as an UFA will probably get around 2-3mil depending on how the rest of the season plays out. Fortunately, it will result in a shot for Jones who has put in his time with the Monarchs and earned a chance in the NHL.

**Teams have to start investing in quality #2 net minders. These days we're (arguably) over-paying a #1 at 5-7 mil a year, playing him 70+ games, and then either blowing the season when he gets hurt, or riding an exhausted goalie through the playoffs. Back in the day you had: Worsely/Hall; Vachon/Worsely; Plante/Parent; Giacomin/Villeneuve; Smith/Resch. More recently, Fuhr/Moog and Lemeling/Moog. The cap makes it tough, but riding one goalie, and going with a glorified minor-leaguer as backup, is an unwarranted risk. We've been really luck with Scrivens, but the Blues ought to be constantly grateful they've got Halak/Elliot, and I really wish we could have kept Bernier.

**Well, Lu-Schneider was a pretty unbelievable combo. If you'd been able to keep them both happy playing 35-45 games a year you would have been halfway to a Cup.

**Sure but think of it over the next 50 games.. Is it better to have him up, or learning how to play a pro game. Flames have a lot riding on this kid, 11th overall in a time where they've made some iffy picks. Hopefully they'll finish towards the bottom and pick up Ekblad..

**I'm definitely torn with him, I think his biggest hurdle is adjusting to the physical play in the NHL. He didn't appear to have the same adjustment in the AHL last year as his point production was quite good right from the start. In addition he is now starting to win a lot of battles that he was giving up on earlier this season so whether it continues I'm not sure. It definitely wouldn't hurt to spend a little more time with the Heat. Don't think finishing near the bottom will be a huge issue but I'm enjoying watching all the same.

**i don't think you guys need to tank to get to the bottom. from what i see from the flames this year the rebuild is going pretty well. baertschi will get better over time but monahan is looking like a stud. same with reto berra. i think u guys will most likely trade away some other veterans for picks and prospects but yeah the rebuild is looking good so far.

**Nolan hit on Henrik- Clean Kassian hit on stoll- iffy whoever hit Mitchell to start the 7 year old mele- clean Its a new day and a new set of challenges. Who is this Linden Vey kid? Oh let me take a guess, drafted in the 7th round 4 years ago, worked his way up from the minors where he learned to play the pro game. Now he's killing penalties and on the ice in the last minute for LA?! These guys know how to do it.. Take a lesson from their books MG, that's how you DEVELOP PLAYERS! Hats off to LA and a good game to watch last night.

**that and drafting has always been a weakness for the canucks. it was pretty easy to see when they traded schneider for just one pick in the draft just because if was a top ten pick. if they're going to continue to be a dominating team they'll have to learn to find talent in the later part of the draft. and thats something they haven't been good at for a while until last years draft.

**Congrats on the win LAK! Scrivens stole that game for you, so be humble and acknowledge it! Nolan is a dirty player - own it LAK. Like Torts stated in the press conference, Nolan was offered to fight 3 different guys at that moment, but he deferred a few seconds, just so he could size up Stanton and then sucker elbow Stanton. Great part of it - Stanton can and will fight! I will acknowledge that VAN is going through a phase at the moment. New coach, system, players. They are playing more defensive hockey (goals allowed is much lower this year). Just need to finish the game strong. As for VAN supposedly diving, those who make that statement are clearly jealous that the Canucks were creative enough to find ways to get a call. Don't be mad. VAN does not dive - so give it up. It's no longer comical.

**You sound like a jacka$$. One of those people who says "Great game, I mean you didn't deserve it but good job. Oh and that player on your team is really good, for a dirty cheap shot type player. Oh yea, congrats on your lucky win that should have been ours. Good game"

**You mean LA didn't let the ref's steal the game from them. Some of the calls were pathetic but LA fought through it and won anyway. The Canucks can thank the ref's for one point anyway. If by creative you mean Henrik pulling out a false tooth to try to get an extra call then your right, Torts got a chuckle out of it when the ref's went over to tell him.

**What about the first goal LA scored - it was an odd man rush created because of a non-call trip on Richardson in front of Scrivens. So LA goes up 1-0 when it should have been a Canuck PP. Also... 39 shots to 22! Even with more blocked shots by LA. Face it, LA is lucky they didn't get blown out.

**And while I agree with some of what you say (being outshot)...what should have been and the end result are two completely different things her. I saw a lot of shots from the outside that made their way in, that were easy stops too, want to talk about those? Or how about all the PP time the Canucks, that the Kings didn't? Maybe that's why they outshot the Kings. The Kings have been snake bitten before too, but it never happens to the Canucks? Please. Don't think this is the only time it is ever going to happen. Odd man rush or not, the PP chance you speak of...would it really have helped? You went what,1 for 8? Odds are you don't score, from what I saw. I won't FACE anything...except the W in the win column.

**"Be humble and acknowledge it..... while I sit here on my ridiculously high horse." And the comment about being jealous over the 'Nucks being "Creative enough to find ways to get a call".... What? When did this become an improvisation class as opposed to a hockey game?

**you just knew this was going to happen, eh ? .... same old same old - here are three scenarios - 1) Canucks get their act together and rally in 2nd half, finishing among the top four (highly unlikely) 2) Canucks just scrape into the playoffs and get eliminated in first round (not too likely) 3) Canucks miss the playoffs (most likely)

**"Playing like a boss in LA" refers to Scrivens' play in general, not just last night. If you understood English grammar, you'd have figured that out.

**Not a great month for the Canucks, which is a change from us not having a good October. As long as the gap between us and the playoff teams don't get too great then we have time to get it together...there are just so many strong teams in the Western conference right now. Before yesterday, if the Bruins came over this way they would be fighting for a playoff spot!

**Window closed tightly on Canucks Cup asiprations when they got swept in the 1st round last year. John Tortorella wedged it open with the tough, hard style he had that team playing. Now the window is closing again, as that team has no scoring ability, and has a goalie who has proven he can lose tight games with leaky goals. (Not a goalie comment on last night. Just years of watching Luongo.) Mike Gillis put that team in a hole, and there is little he can do now to fix it because of cap space. Meanwhile their rival just keeps rolling along, with two Cups to their recent credit, a loaded team that is under the Cap, and looking like a serious Cup threat again. Looks like a tough season ahead for Vancouver fans.

**Scribbles series of 4 rapid saves with 3 minutes left in regulation were spectacular. This team never gives up. Should be a bruising barn burner tomorrow in SJ. GKG!

**"Meanwhile their rival just keeps rolling along, with two Cups to their recent credit, a loaded team that is under the Cap, and looking like a serious Cup threat again" If you are talking about my Kings, sadly they have only one cup to their credit, period. But they are a force! Every true Kings fan has been where you are...... I know the feeling well :/ sad to say....

**You think the Chicago Blackhawks are the Canucks rival? You can't be serious about that statement! Canucks are a train wreck team & they have proven it time & time again. They fold in the playoffs,they dive more than the most olympic swim teams,they throw fits when the refs don't call every little thing and now with Tortorella at the helm, things are only going to get worse. Canucks are NOT a Stanley Cup contending team this year. Not even close to having what it takes to win it all.

**Still a lot of bad blood between the Blackhawks & Canucks but I think the rivalry is fading a little. I think the rise of The Blues is probably slowly replacing the Canucks as the team the Blackhawks most want to beat, IMO. The Canucks have really lost some close heartbreakers this season. The West is tough!

**Great to see you were creative enough with your post! Come up with something new and invigorating rather than posting what's been already mentioned. Here's an idea - if VAN is so terrible than what should they do? Stating "rebuild" is not a intelligent answer - dig deeper.



Blackhawks end Oilers' win streak

**Duncan Keith looks like he might be having the best year of his career, even better than his Norris year in 2010. Hes playing a great 2-way game. Leading d-man in assists, top 5 in the league in assists, closing in on a point per game, and it seems like every game he is saving a goal or two. A much deserved season for him after being a little bit inconsistent the last few seasons.

**Yeah, He started the season off pretty rough but has really put some fantastic outings together recently. He definitely is looking like that Norris defenseman we know and love. I still think he's a little off his 2010 game in terms of consistency this year, but if he keeps up what he's been doing these past few games, I'd tend to agree with you. He's simply taken it to another level, these past 2 games especially.

**Keith was playing in front of scores of friends and family in Vancouver, which splains his great game. In an 82 game season they can't play ALL OUT every one, can they? He said himself, after winning the Cup in '10 that he was not MOTIVATED the following year or two. With the infusion of new young talent, the Hawks may be ready for another Cup run in '14. Colorado is the only team that may beat them in a 7 game series IMO.

**I agree that Keith is having a great year but to be better than 2009-10? That will be tough - it was a phenomenal season. If he can top that performance, we should start planning the parade.

**Hawks played a great all-around game last night, but what truly impressed me was the defensive effort for the second game in a row. This is a big turnaround from the recent Colorado, Nashville, and Winnipeg games where they pretty much let the opponent get any look they wanted and completely hung Crawford out to dry. When the Hawks show the style of team defense they have the past two nights with sensational efforts from Keith and Hjalmarsson especially, that's the team that won the Cup last year and a team that'd be a Cup favorite this year. The defense (or lack thereof) they played in those other 3 games is the defense of a team that loses in the 1st Round. Hopefully this renewed defensive effort is here to stay. Great game and let's get another 2pts from another teamand stadium known to give us some trouble in Calgary and the Saddledome.

**Hawks looked really good yesterday, puck movement, defense, Crow. Saad keeps getting better and better, really impressed with the level of play last night. On to Calgary.

**Good to see the young guys getting better with each game. Morin played really well tonight, Pirri has had a real good season so far, and I like what Ben Smith brings to the lineup. It will be interesting to see what Q does when/if everyone stay healthy.

**The way Ben Smith has played the last couple games, he might finally be here to stay. He's really giving max effort and has started becoming comfortable out there and playing his hard power game. When Hossa comes back, Morin will be sent down (Morin played a lot better last night offensively, but he has still struggled on the defensive side of the puck and needs more time in the minors to get that part of his game to an NHL level). When Bickell comes back, my guess would be the Hawks would start rotating Bollig, Smith, and Handzus. The real question is what happens when Mills gets back.

**Even though there were no real stats to show... Saad played his tail off. Johnny and kaner deserve all of the praise they get but the "kids" on this team like saad and pirri are playing so well right now. The hawks just know how to do it when it comes to scouting and development.

**Good to see Saad's growth from his great rookie season. He looks really comfortable and confident on the puck this year

**Its crazy how one off year in juniors took him from top 10 potential all the way to mid-late 2nd round. Saad is emerging into a star. We all talk about the importance of Kane, Toews, Sharp, Hossa, Keith, and Seabrook. But at this point Saad is part of that group. I'd hate to lose him.

**Brandon Saad has been absolutely fantastic. I can't possibly see Bowman not signing him to an extended contract. He's one of those players you just can't let go no matter the financial situation. Expect him to get an extended deal next season, and based on the contracts and defensive options right now, also expect Oduya or Roszival to be traded in their final contract year to make room as necessary.

**With all the talent it will be fun to see how the hawks handle it. I am curious about the future cap and how much it goes up. Bowmen.... Find a way!

**Just imagine what they would have done with a full compliment of players. Remember, Bickell and more importantly, Hoss are still out. Depth to say the least. Great game Hawks!! Somebody actually posted yesterday that it would be something like 12 - 5 Oilers. Wow!! No respect for the champs.

**Yeah, they were openly rooting for the Canucks, but it was a Hockey Night in Canada telecast, so that is pretty much their role as commentators in being slanted towards the Canadian team (gotta know your audience ;-)). That's also why the Hawks they focused on during the game were "good Canadian boys" as well. It'd be similar to turning on CSN-Chicago and expecting a completely neutral telecast.

**That didnt look like th Oilers we've faced recently. There just didint seem to be any spark. All that talent but no team. Sure hope Bryz doesnt go psycho on you guys - you cant afford it. Well played Hawks - they certainly had their jump going.

**Crawford lookin good again. Never mind those goals over the shoulders. All you can do is be in position. If a sniper whips one past your head theres no stopping it. That stop on Smyth was stunning. If I had space on my team I would pick up Bryz. Looks like Edmonton may have a goalie

**Great all around team effort win. Crow made some big stops when needed and hawks buried the opportunities they had. Perron will get a nice whack from someone next time around for his final minute antics that's for sure...

**I was pretty sure there was going to be a big fight, possibly even a line brawl in that final minute. Oduya was certainly looking to run him but never was able to get him lined up. Had he, and I am sure there would've been gloves all over the ice. Fairly certain Perron was trying to send a message to his team that being outplayed like they were was unaceptable and if he needed to get in a fight to take out his frustrations to prove it, he'd do it. Him being an ex-Blues player and there being a mutual dislike/hatred there also helped factor into that decision I'm sure. In any case, can't really blame him- shows there is one person on that Edmonton team who still cares. That said, I'm also glad there wasn't a line brawl- those are always touch and go when it coems to injuries.

**Not much to say after this game. Hawks dominated a bottom tier team that is now what? 5 years into a rebuild process? Please...no more 'Oil Change' TV shows in the offseason. That ship sailed, and it is lost at sea. Stop rewarding failure with TV shows.

**Funny, yesterday the posts were talking about how the Oilers turned the corner and the Hawks would have a difficult outing? The Oilers are at a point where the 1st round picks they have accumulated need to start paying dividends in the standings versus individual statistics. They desparately need some character players to create balance between talent and heart. We were fortunate to land a guy like Toews that can fill both roles that you can build a team around. Oils need to make some trades and get some character IMO and they will be on their way!

**The Oilers need 2 good goalis !! Brygalov is part of the answer & he should have been put in at 2-0. You can't give the Blackhawks room to skate around or give them odd man rushes or else you will lose everytime!! Vancouver tried it last saturday and lost when they had the game in hand!! The Oilers also need 2 really good defensemen. Chicago is not invincible --the Red Wings had them down and out as did Phoenix as well as the Avalanche who beat them soundly! You have to be playing at 110% to beat them!! The Oilers have the firepower they just have to use it at the right time! The Oilers need to implement the New Jersey team game and they will be fine!! TIGHTEN UP YOUR GAME OILERS--- THEN MAKE THEM PAY!!!

**It's mainly because he isn't great at any of the "skills" for forwards. By that I mean he doesn't have particularly good hands or a good shot. He isn't particularly fast, and his puck control isn't great. He doesn't have high-end offensive talent and he's not tall, big-bodied, or a force in front of the net. But what he does have is a ton of heart and grit, he has no fear whatsoever, he will give absolutely all he has every time out on the ice, he will get in the heads of opposing players, he always gets up off the ice no matter how many times he gets knocked down and he has a sneaky good hand-eye in deflecting a puck with his stick. There are some things you can't teach when it comes to talent, and the truth is, Andrew Shaw has very little of those things. But you also can't teach fight or heart or effort, and Andrew Shaw would be a Top 3 draft pick every year if those qualities are the ones teams draft on. In a way, he reminds me a bit of Jeremy Roenick. Now JR clearly had a lot of skill, but what made him one of the best American players to ever lace them up and a fan favorite wasn't his talent, it was his desire, his heart, his lack of fear, and his effort. And it's good to see in this much softer game, that heart and effort still trump skill and talent 9 times out of 10. The Hawks are lucky to have both.

**Think Bryz might be the guy for Edmonton going forward. I guess it's probably pre-mature to say, he came in when the game was already lost and the Hawks had slowed down a bit but he made a few really good stops. I mean, he can't be any worse than Dubnyk at this point so they may as well, and if he's able to get back to form it should be a pretty big boon to the Oilers. Hawks offense is ridiculous this year. I mean, they've always been great obviously, but aside from the very early going they've been lighting it up like nobodies business.

**Well at least EDM knows Bryz was a good pickup. He had some crazy saves. If he played the whole game it may have been a one point game. The goal by Schultz was unbelievably accurate. If that puck moved an inch in any other direction it wouldn't have been a goal. Perfect placement. The Hawks offense is easily the best in the league. They just don't stop scoring. If only our GA column was as impressive as our GF column. Good defense/goaltending tonight though. Some defensive mistakes, but Crawford was able to keep them out of the net. I'm excited to get Hossa and Bickell back in the lineup, but Morin looked good out there. Fast and able to break through the defense and the assist to Shaw was a great look. Hoping Crawford can get some rest and Raanta is ready to battle and get us 2 points.

**edmonton we'll trade u edler and hamhuis and bieksa for like three first round picks and a couple of seconds then you'll have a good enough defense to make the playoffs and we can start a rebuild ok go tell mactavish



Predators hand Coyotes third straight loss

**No kidding, its hard to believe they have the best plus-minus on the team. Trotz has been trying his best to keep these two under raps.

**yotes got screwd by the juding they really desrved to win they were better in all aspects but the judges didnt call penalties against them an that also lead to at least one of the preds goals its ridiculous that yotes didnt win this is injustice

**Yotes lost that game in the 1st period, they played better in the second and came up a goal short for a tie and third could have went either way! There was penalties on both teams that never was called!

**Nice Homer announcer, "The Pacific division is the toughest"... Really? Check out the Central Division, brah.

**I say the stars of this game is the refs,only because they let these guys play hockey and didn't try to run the game that was cool as heck, great tough in your face hockey tonight gg yotes and gw preds!

**Agreed. They had the biggest hand in the outcome of the game than anyone else on the ice. Cool as heck.

**That's what I want to see after a loss. I want to see us go out and win a game, not go on a 4 game losing streak after playing really well. Yeah we didn't play the greatest the entire game, but we made things happen when it mattered. The preds have been really bad at closing at games, and tonight was a step in that direction, although the last 3 minutes I was on the edge of my seat.

**Yikes, well I guess they had to go on a losing streak at some point. Lets hope it's a small one and over with soon.

**and yes i know how good he is...But if you have never actually watched close to how he plays, he is a turnover machine and is never in a good position to stop an opposing teams rush. trust me, if you went to as many coyotes games as i have in the last few years, you would understand. That guys name is yelled more than anyone elses in the whole coyotes stadium for doing plain stupid plays

**We'll get this one back. Nashville played a great first period, and unfortunately, we couldn't stage the same comeback this time. Really hope Doan is alright.

**Sad to think this loss will change anything. It'll take a blowout to get back to defense-first hockey. Though I do hope I'm wrong.



Halak, Blues shut out Wild; Steen scores twice

**The morale of the game instantly changed after that goal was waved off, and it was a goal in most people minds. Unfortunately hockey is hockey and you just gotta keep playing, the wild didn't keep playing.

**Regardless of which side of the fence someone is on, it's not often the folks in Toronto overturn the call on the ice in that situation. More often than not they stand by the officials who "usually" have a slightly better view angle than the cameras. The officials are on the ice and the cameras are up higher and make it harder to get a good (conclusive) view. Right or wrong it's usually how it goes.

**Agreed. I would say it did deflate the Wild however they are professionals and understand things like that happen. It's no different than a horrible penalty call that results in a goal on a power play. You have to keep your chin up and keep pushing. I do believe it changed the game, however that is not an excuse for their loss. If anyone has watched the Blues, a 1-0 or 2-0 deficit isn't anything for this team, they would of stormed back with avengence and tied it and probably won the game with how they dominated. It is unfortunate because it was an amazing play by Parise, however they didn't lose the game because of that.

**I knew the Wild were missing something. They still need to score more goals, and it's sad how people disagree with me. What I see with the Wild is that they need to all move together. I see people running up the middle while the others are still back. I understand some players must stay back, but there are too many Wild players keeping back there. Next this is that, the Wild need to actually try and find someone open with the puck, instead of just tossing it out towards the Blues zone. I see Wild players just covering one side, when some other player is left wide open ready to retrieve the puck from a pass. Last thing, Backstrom still needs to warm up this season, he's been through a lot.

**If Blues keep this up they will win the Cup. Every line was doing great. MN has not faced a team like this and it showed. Always moving the legs and physical play. I was very impressed with St. Louis. Wild can't allow a bad call dictate how they play the rest of the game. Took the confidence right away. Congrats St. Louis, you team is exciting to watch.

**We've said that the last two years. If they can stay consistent like they are now in the playoff's, they have a great chance but it's all about taking it one game at a time. I like their chances but in the West you can't let off the pedal at all, it's way to close!

**They seem to get stronger every season though, and usually you have to be considered a contender for a while before making it all the way. Overall I'd say Blues have a really good chance, and I've been wishing them the best since the start of the season. I know the Sens aren't going to win the cup any time soon save for a miracle so I like cheering on other teams I like.

**I agree. Armstrong knows what he is doing and he has put together one heck of a team. Thanks for the attention also and good luck to the Sens. I love Lehner, he's going to be a solid number 1 very soon!

**Bad call on the high stick, but im not sure it would have mattered. Blues played a solid 2 periods then just couldn't create offense. Next two games are gonna be tough avs and the sharks. Either way good game Minnesota

**That, and he forgot our best player lol. If there was an ASG this year, Petro, JBo, and Steen would be locks. Backes and Oshie would have an outside chance, but since they like to have a representative from each team, they would probably be left out.

**So happy to see Bowmeester doing great. I'm a long time Calgary fan and I think he got a bad rap while he was here. Our system was never going to help him offensively and noone gave him enough credit for his defence. Glad the trade is working out for both teams. We like Berra and we'll see about our first round pick if he turns out all right.

**You think so. I enjoyed them because they talked about the teams they were playing in front of them last night and did not compare one or talk constantly about Crosby or another east coast team. I got enough of that in the intermission report and NHL Overtime.

**It's usually the other way around. They never brag on the Blues at all. Wild may have an identical record, however they were dominated for over 50 minutes of the game, and everyone that watched that game knew the Blues were the more dominant team. Wild have a great team, they will do well, but the Blues are a train. They remind me of L.A. when they won a Cup, they just ran people over and didn't stop.

**I didn't mind it at all. All the more reason to win against the teams on top in the west. Wild did not slow the blues until late in the game. The next 2-3 weeks is how the Wild will fix this.

**The Blues look extremely confident right now. It's really nice to see how fluid and unpredictable they are playing right now. From years passed, you could tell what the Blues would do...dump and chase...now, it's all about tape to tape passing, odd man rushes, and the best part, they keep moving their skates...good stuff.

**Does Steen wear diapers under his breezers?? He skates right into that monster D man know as Spurgeon, thier knees meet, and it's Spurgeon's fault? Then he cross checks Spurge 2-3 times and no call? Obviously Parise's goal was a good goal [and the Wild are a different team when they score first]; see their record. I'm not saying the Blues are a bad team, they don't really need the on ice officials and the Toronto gang's help.

**Another solid game Blues against a good Wild squad who never showed quit. Looking forward to the next ones against them. 3 roadies in 6 days against Avalanche, Ducks and Kings are going to be tough. One at a time. Gonna need that next level Hitch refers to. Happy Thanksgiving all and... LGB!

**Man the Blues are one HELL of a hockey team...as a Wild fan, I knew this night was going to be painful, but not this painful! Obviously I'm in the crowd that thinks Parise's goal should have counted, but the Blues absolutely laid the hammer down after that.Something interesting for everyone to think of though, is that if Parise's goal did stand, the faceoff would have been at a different dot, therefore changing the complexion of the next sequence. Now I'm not saying STL wouldn't have came back down and scored. But the puck would have been in different areas of the ice each second...just something to think about. And while this realignment is fun/awesome/much need from Minnesota's perspective, as someone who was too young to remember the North Stars and not getting the Wild until I was 11, many of my favorite teams are now division rivals. Always loved the Preds, was psyched when Winnipeg got a team again(and those blue jerseys are so sick!), and I've always had a liking for the Blues...especially when Brett Hull was there. Add to the fact that my roommate is a huge Hawks fan and you can see this is somewhat torturous! However, I can see plain as day that the Blues and Hawks still have quite the edge on the Wild and will wait and watch proudly and patiently as the State of Hockey continues their rise to relevance in the NHL. Doesn't help that the entire conference is just stacked this year and for the foreseeable future.

**Am I outraged that there's still no mention of Steener for the Olympic games? Uhh, no. That's all we need: is to have our star scorer get injured in the Olympics. When I first started following the Blues their first year in the League: postage stamps were 3 cents; a gallon of gas was 33 cents; the median household income was a little over $7,000/year; and Wayne Gretzky was six years old. That's how many years I've waited to see the Blues win a Cup. Now that they are a legitimate front-runner for Lord Stanley, am I upset that a guy with no real history of scoring is being passed up for the Olympics this year based on the first quarter of the season? I think I've answered my own question.

**The core pieces are in place for several years. No need to panic. Pietro signed, Bouwmeester signed. Stewart signed. Shattenkirk, Jackman, Leopold, Polak, Paajarvi, Tarasenko. All signed. And the UFA will negotiate this season but the way things are going, most will probably want to stick around. Even if we lose e.g. Halak or Elliot, there is Allen who can step up. Others in the farm-system are also ready for helping the Blues.



Bergenheim, Thomas lead Panthers past Flyers

**Anyone else feel like Bergenheim hooked Simmonds in that first highlight? They even made sure to show the slow-mo replay of his "great play" from behind, haha. Maybe he didn't get his hands but it looks like he did.

**Hey Panthers fans, are you guys satisfied of D.Olson? I don`t know him well, and I would like to know if you guys are happy with this trade

**Olson looked very good. Nice solid checks. He said during intermission that he was comfortable playing with Gudbranson because he had played with him on Team Canada and he looked comfortable. Jimmy Hayes has played well since coming over. Versteeg was great the first year but due to injuries he never was the same since. So far very happy with the trade.

**i was floored by the panthers work ethic this game. seriously awesome and even in the third being outplayed they worked their @s.s.e.s. off. but seriously kulikov needs to be made a winger. i just dont understand why he or any coach thinks hes a defenseman. hed be a great 2nd line left wing. good wrist shot nice moves and clearly a good breakaway shooter if we use him in the shootouts sometimes and hes good at them. Olsen was awesomeness and hayes has been solid. doesnt look like we got as robbed on that steeger thing as bad as i thought although paying half his salary for him to light it up in chicago when he wasnt scoring for us is painful. and bergenheim made me j!zz sorry. what a game

**Great Job Panthers! I knew you had it in you and Timmy was great! This was a game Philly needed to win though and should of won. Get the next one!

**Great effort by Panthers. Nice to have Bergenheim back. He was a big part of why Panthers went to the playoffs the year before last. Dylan Olsen looked really good. Like his hard checks. Good comment by Berube, "Who are we to overlook anybody?" Hope Rangers overlook Panthers next game they need the points and you have to beat the teams you can catch in the standings and get the wild card spot. Panthers string a few more wins together and they are still in the running.

**I had a bad feeling about this game like Philly was going to choke. Lesson learned fellas now you realize you have to treat every team like a threat and not take anyone for granted. There isn't an easy win in this league. Stick to your game plan and lets move along to the next game. Good game Panthers.

**After a bunch of games without giant golf swing slappers, dump and chase, and power plays featuring 8 consecutive stationary perimeter passes culminating in yet another giant golf swing slapper that takes 10 seconds to tee up I thought the Flyers we've known to bring us yet another season of disappointment were gone. Welcome back boys, welcome back to sub-500 hockey.

**It's ok to be upset when your team loses. Although, I don't agree with his assessment. Last night they ran into the old Tim Thomas. They had plenty of chances to bury the puck on 37 shots, but Tim was in position for the entire game. There was one shot I thought should have been a goal because he WAS out of position, the puck was just shot to the wrong side of the net. Anyway, I thought they played a decent game, not spectacular, the Panthers just have their number right now.

**I don't even get why he's complaining. The Panthers have been mostly awful since they came into the league. I've been cheering for them the entire time. Yes, I get mad when they lose, but I have to be hopeful. That's all I really have as a Panthers' fan.

**Blackhawks fans, when did you become a Blackhawks fan? Just straight up, not "Well 2009 I found out the city had a team and then we won the cup." Just when did you become a fan....? 2008? 2009? 2013?

**Good game tonight guys. Thomas looked stellar for you. Wish my Flyers would have won but it was not to be. What makes me sick is these flyers fans acting like beating Florida should be a gimme game. Not NHL team is a gimme, Florida has been pretty decent lately, and Tim Thomas is back in net and has always had his way with us.

**Florida is capable of beating all the top teams. Anaheim and Colorado, beat Philly when they were playing their best hockey this month. Now if only they could beat lower ranked teams, they'd have a shot at making the playoffs. They've proved they can play with the best.

**Or maybe the top teams just took the Florida games for granted and got stung. Doesn't mean Florida can compete.

**The logic is that just because you beat a couple of the top teams doesn't mean you can compete with them. You are at the bottom of your division meaning you aren't able to compete with the teams at the top. Winning a few sporadic games against good teams means nothing if you can't translate that into long term success.

**Where were you guys in the standings 2 weeks ago? You guys were terrible to start the season, you go on a good run and suddenly you act like you're headed to the playoffs as well? We're only 3pts behind you with 57 games left in the season. Any team can beat any team on any given night. We will have our time.

**HAHA Thats why us Flyers fans hate Penguns "fans" They don;t even know their own teams wins and losses. Good game Panthers any NHL team can beat any other team on any given day. The goal is to win more than you lose, not win them all. Also we beat the penguins last game too

**Was that your comeback? Seriously? Standings sure does matter when there is like what? 60games left? Speaking of which, Besides last years Chicago when did a team last win presidents trophy and take the cup? Try focus on your iceducks more and at the flyers less. Good game Florida, Barkov lookin good.

**It boggles my mind why people try to predict scores prior to games. Often, they just look like fools. I agree that the Flyers didn't come out that strong, but some credit does go to the other team for preventing that. One of the most complete games from the Panthers that I've seen all season. The Flyers were getting pretty scary at the end of the 3rd. That's why we have Tim Thomas though. He can steal games for us. Overall, another great Flyers-Panthers game.

**Panthers deserved to win that game. Flyers didn't show up for the first two periods. I'm also tired of Rinaldo getting hauled down and nothing gets called. Happens at least once a game. I don't think it would have had an effect on the outcome of the game but it is becoming annoying.

**I'm truly happy for Bergenheim. After all the frustration and bad comments he got from both the coach and some fans during his long break, it's nice to see he's playing so well. I remember watching the highlights of his comeback game, he was a beast then, and keeps on being one! A true working horse. Let's just hope he stays healthy for many seasons to come.

**I never heard or saw written a comment by a fan against Bergenheim except for disappointment that he was injured and couldn't play. Him missing all last season was part of the reason Panthers were so bad. Panthers are a better team with Bergenheim in the line-up. I think all fans know that. Don't know what the coach said but I never heard a bad word against him from a fan.

**Luckilly, losses from NJD and NYR mean we didn't lose any ground in the standings. I expect a big game vs. TB. Flyers are still a playoff team, just bad night. Forget it and move on.

**I was impressed with tonights win over Philly, considering they have been on FIRE. All the best Philly. A much needed win for Florida!

**To be fair, the Panthers have been on fire too, and they definitely showed it tonight. Florida deserved the win, hands-down. Thomas continues to dominate the Fly Guys as always - he was a monster in net tonight.

**Panthers played really hard tonight we just came out and played bad hockey i did not see that effort the Flyers played with in the previous games Mason still looked good in net which is good and you have to give Thomas a lot of credit he played a great game i just hope we can shake this off and get it going again



St. Louis leads Lightning past Rangers

**Well, to all the "and all without Stamkos" remarks...I'd say the Bolts are 15-8 because their entire team is better than last year. Stamkos great player and scores plenty and makes a lot happen out there. But as the TBL fans have seen one man does not a team make. New coach new players good goaltending and a new attitude..that's what gets you on the winning track. Stamkos being hurt and the Botls still playing at a high level...4 game losing streak aside...are not in this position because their team is sub par. They're seriously better. I was hoping the Rangers were better than this but it's one game...maybe next time.

**Congratulations Marty. I can't stand the way you do shootouts against the Hawks but you are one classy guy. Your performance in this game was the cherry on top.

**That was painful to watch, the first Leaf game that I actually sit through and I had to witness that debacle ! I thought maybe they could have pulled Reimer in the second, the goals wern't his fault but just to save his confidence. I'm sure they'll rebound.... against my Habs on Saturday night probably lol

**Congrats to Marty and the whole team. That was one of the more perfect games I've ever witnessed. Only sad thing about this game was, I thought it'd be a better match up, an actual hockey game. But it was just a mop the floor with them kinda game.

**Great to see Stammer walking without crutches. And congrats to St. Louis! 2 goals and an assist on his 1000th game, pretty awesome!

**Marty is one of my favorite players of all time. Great player and he really deserved every second of the ceremony. Stamkos walking to Marty without crotches just made the moment even better.

**So Marty has 2 goals and 1 assist playing in his 1000th game and he doesn't get 1 of the 3 stars on NHL.com..... shame on you guys!

**Rangers have a habit of making other teams goalies look amazing, anyways congrats to marty st louis (hes on my fantasy team) and congrats to Kucherov and congrats to bishop on the shutout. Rangers need to fix their offensive problems

**What a night. That was quite the ceremony for Marty. Seeing Marty and Richie together really brought back some great memories, and Stammer coming out was awesome. Great to see him pot a couple, on his night. Also, Kucherov has a bright future ahead of him. Offensive star in the making.

**Very happy for Nikita. Played indoor soccer with him for a year in NY while he was recovering from shoulder surgery. There are still marks on the mat where he practiced the slapshot

**Always like the Bolts, glad to see them get a nice big win. Devils were stinking it up last night, but at least the Bolts got a cheer out of the crowd when they showed your highlights on the big screen during intermission!

**That's good to hear (the cheer during intermission). I'm sure that at least part of that cheer is because of who our opponent was, but we'll take it!

**What a game for the Bolts. Outside a few dumb penalties, played a near perfect game, all without Stamkos, Malone, Gudas, Pyatt or Aulie in the lineup. How about Filppula serving up those pretty outlet passes for the breakaways? Marty is a legend and Bishop has been a monster for us, but Flip to me has been the unsung hero doing all the little things right early on.

**other than the last game Hank playeed, he consistently gets outplayed by the other teams goalie. Hank is still great but the other goalies against him have been better. On the other side of that the Rangers don't play as well in front of him with Cam is there and they don't score as much either. This has to get fixed with the next homestand coming up.

**I'm surprised the NHL didn't make some corny reference to chess like Ben Bishop to King Lundqvist. Check mate!

**Congrats Marty! And great to see Stammer walk out on the ice with no crutches or assistance. The fans went bezerk. Bishop was awesome in goal. Nice to get a solid win after a rough west coast trip.

**Forgot to mention Nikita Kucherov. Like Mario, he scores a goal on his very first shot in the NHL. Good to get a look at part of the future Lightning dynasty Stevie Y is building. Woohoo!

**Outplayed and still won 5-0, thats the sign of a good goalie! Great job Bishop and congrats Marty! It was incredible to see Stamkos walk out there the way he did, that guy is such a gamer. Can't wait to see the Lightning at full strength again, we can make a good run at the cup this year if we can get it all together by season's end

**Ok so this was a bad game. 5 goals against is a rare occurrence for the rangers and i'd say defensive wise the Rangers just gotta learn from their mistakes and forget about this one. However, as much as I love the fact that the Rangers can consistently get a ton of shots, they still can't score. They gotta make a move or do something because they won't go anywhere with 30+ shots and no goals

**tonight was honestly about defensive breakdowns and Bishop, I don't know how anyone would expect Hank to stop all of those, they were almost all odd man rushes, it was completely the defense who is at fault, and then their was Bishop, chance after chance and Bishop stood tall good game bolts

**It was a rare history marker for the third star. It was Kucherov's first shot on goal in the NHL and it went in, I think last time that has happened was Mario Lemieux. He also we top notch in his remaining ten minutes of ice time. He made at least two plays in the d-zone that stopped a surging Rangers team. With the injury to Stamkos Tampa has been shuffling a bit with the lineup. Kucherov was a 2nd round pick in 2011, or was it 2012???, and has been lighting the lamp in the AHL. Tonight was his first call up, and he impressed. When he was drafted the scouts said he had a scoring instinct but was completely irresponsible on defense. Well, evidently he's been elevating his defense as he looked great. I expect him to center the Purcell /Killornline at some point and Johnson, Palat, and Panik will be reunited; but first he's gotta prove he will be responsible before his minutes are elevated. Look out, this Lightning team is for real.

**My post from earlier: Calm down! Rangers are playing well! Rangers just ran into a very good team with an outstanding goaltender in Bishop! The Rangers can't win every single game on the road!!! They just lost to a better team tonight!! Doesn't mean the Rangers can't be the better team by season's end! Lundqvist may have let in 4 goals tonight but he has been on a heck of run since getting over that injury!!! I kinda blame AV for not rolling with Hank more often! Don't get me wrong, Talbot is playing really well against the lesser teams that he faces BUT I think Hank should be starting way more games in a row to get and stay in a groove!! No reason to alternate Talbot in every week, Talbot should only be playing when the Rangers play on back to back nights!! But after 24 games, the Rangers are .500, I'd prefer that then a losing record!! By halfway thru the season, the Rangers should be well above .500!!! Becuz they are rolling, we as fans just gotta accept a few bumps in the road from time to time!! Becuz this the NHL, alot of great teams, no one can be perfect!!

**Same thing happened to the Bolts after we fired Torts. Tampa fans loved him, unfortunately we had some bankrupting new owners that thought Dan Boyle and Brad Richards were overpaid and that Torts would be bettered by the mullet that is Barry Melrose. Did I mention that those cowboys tried to deal rookie Stamkos to Pittsburgh? Could you imagine the dynasty that would be Pittsburgh today if the league hadn't stepped in and essentially blocked the trade? Our GM disagreed and but Len Barrie went behind the GM's back and made the trade. The league stepped in and made a league wide declaration that only the GM of a club can move players, so Stamkos stayed. So glad Vinik bought the team and gave Yzerman an ownership stake. I'm still uneasy this year about things, but I think next year is when we become a real force. Hell, we have ten guys on the club that were playing significant time in the AHL last year. Brown, Palat, Johnson, Panik, Gudas, Sustr, Labrie, Barberio, Kucherov, and Connolly, though Connolly played a bit two years ago in the bigs. Tampa is young, but they are playing like veterans.

**You also gotta remember, each team we played out West are monsters at their houses. The Coyotes are undefeated I think at home I think, at least in regulation, the Shark Tank is always a tough place to play, the Kings are good, and the Ducks have the best record in the west. Bolts fans shouldn't worry too much about our performance on that road trip although it would have been nice to steal a victory, hell we almost got out of Anaheim with a W if we would have made it to the shootout where we havent lost yet

**We did beat both the Kings and Ducks here this year by 5-1 scores. We are 15-8 and still in really good shape in the standings. If someone told me before the season that we would be 15-8 after that trip I would have taken it.

**This season's trend is that western teams struggle in the east and eastern teams struggle out west. As long as it holds up all is well, however, if one team figures out how to win on the road, after the trip over the rockies, they'll have a few more points. We'll just hope the trend continues.



Jets get unexpected offense to defeat Devils

**Everyone who needed to lose did, thank jeebus. I call tonight a draw. If I had to choose between winning last night and winning against Anaheim or LA last week, I'd pick winning against Anaheim or LA again. They looked a little tired, maybe jetlagged, so I'm sure they'll be up for it again on Wednesday.

**why do devils fans wanna trade the entire roster after a loss but then come back and say we can beat anyone with this roster after a win? cmon guys get a grip. I saw all kinds of chances for goals that just were inches off and some times that just how it goes. Im really starting to see why zajac got the contract he did. Best player on the devils roster. he has great hands and is setting up guys every other play. He isnt a shooter but he cant make the other guys score after he sets them up.

**I guess the only positive thing is that the the Rangers lost so we're not going to lose any ground in the division. But still, we need more offense. Marty & Cory aren't going to get shutouts every game. Tonight was nothing but frustration. GG Jets

**The Rangers aren't the only ones we need to worry about. Aside from the Pens and maybe the Caps, everyone else has been pretty terrible so a good run from any team can push us down the standings quickly. Reading these comments, it sounds like the same old story since last season; playing well enough to win but being unable to finish. I still find it baffling how even with all the new forwards we have, this team still can't find a way to score more than one or two a game.

**you can have the best players in the world if your game plan is an easy read from the opposition then they will defend easily to prevent such great players to score. maybe we need some different strategies to bring home some goals.

**martyssbetter I am sorry you lost tonight, you sure seem choked over the whole thing. Brodeur played great as did the rest of your team, so stop trying to drag them through the mud with what you think the problem was. I for one enjoyed the game and not for a second did I think it would be a sure win for my team. That's what great hockey is, edge of the seat for 60 minutes.

**is deboer stupid? shneider shoulve played the 2nd goal was stupid. Why is Tedenby not in? hes been good when he played and has a goal, is fast, hustles and good with puck. ryder, brunner and harrold should be traded harrold is so unbelievabley weak

**We've played way better, especially recently. They didn't look sharp at all last night. Jets played a good road game and did what they needed to do to win. Good game, boys..

**we played ok to well not awesome though, pavelec did a great job, we could have won for some great opportunities missed by a wide margin like passes not on tape and wide open net with nobody to shoot the rebound overall the jets did what they needed to do to win, the devils didn't. well done jets.

**This team never wins the games they are supposed to win, and thats why we will likely fall out of contention again. We played great games in all 3 CA arenas, and we played a solid game tonight too, but lack of execution and Brodeur's blunder on that 7-hole goal to Kane cost us. We were all over WPG tonight, we were the better team tonight, but, just like last year, we cant find the back of the net when we need to. Disappointing doesnt come close to saying it all.

**Not even close, some guy named Scheifele scored which basically like letting Janssen score a goal against you. Kanes goal was nothing more than a "let me put this on net and see what happens" play, and thats what good teams do, they put the puck on net, but Brodeur getting screened by his own guy and the puck going under his arm were lucky. Not only that, but you were outshot, outhit, and almost gave up 2 SH goals in the second period. Pavelec played well, but NJD missed too many open nets to consider him the main reason we lost.

**Scheifele is what we call a rookie, one of those guys who's half the age of your two best players. You might here a little more about him over the next 20 years. He's had some success in Junior got 10 points in his last two games in the OHL final last year. He's transitioning to the NHL and like most rookies he's had some issues adjusting, with that being said he has the greatest offensive potential and skill set of any player on the Jets roster.

**you and i sir have very different definition of the word great, in california we simply did not turn up the only reason we have 4 points and neither brodeur or schneider are in jail right now is because robbing (may i say arm robbery) is not a crime. we played 6 mins in LA and 25 in anaheim, out of 120 that ain't much to consider this great plays.

**Thing is you got results in CA but they weren't "great" games by the Devils. I'd say the third period the Devils were all over the Jets tonight, some of that is a result of the score going into the third but still well played by the Devils. Some issues with the Devils are a combination of slow defensemen and getting caught flat footed on rushes, they didn't pay for it tonight however. Jets have their issues too, in particular the PP has not been productive but the 2-1's and and 3-2's we are giving up is unacceptable. Line on the year is something like 11 PP goals 4 or 5 shorthanders against.

**Ryder = Janssen minus the edge. The fact that he can snipe is a trivial attribute considering you never get 3 secs and a 3 meter radius to shoot, and unfortunately it seems like that's the only condition in which he can be of any threat.