I miss 33...

Like father, like son...enough said.

Enjoy.

Playoff hockey comes a little early this year.

I love this time of year.
Teams are scrapping for every inch of leverage, every foot of ice, every possession, because they all know, that this may be their last few games of the year.

As the regular season winds down, some teams are fighting for their playoff lives, especially in the Northwest Division, where a minuscule amount of points separate the division leader from those who will be watching from a Lazy Boy in two weeks.

While the Avalanche, Flames, Canucks, Oilers and Wild all jockey for position in the standings, other teams are fighting for other things.

The Sharks and the Wings are battling for home ice advantage in the playoffs, an extremely underrated thing to have.

In the East, things are a little more settled, but not much. The Flyers, Leafs and Islanders are all gunning for one another. However, the Flyers seem to be in the best position to take it. The Leafs are with out Mats Sundin, and the Isles are without Rick DiPietro, (he F**ked his hip up again)

once the playoff picture is set, ill make sure you get a playoff synopsis...

until next time, keep your stick on the ice!

The sharks get a new pair of jaws...

Continuing our trade series...

Buffalo aquires Brian Campbell and a 2008 seventh-round pick from San Jose

San Jose aquires Steve Bernier and a 2008 first-round pick from Buffalo.

Lets be honest. Buffalo has underachieved this year, bottom line. From a team that was a series away from going to the Stanley Cup finals, to a seller at the trade deadline...how the mighty have fallen.

Buffalo really dropped the ball this season. They let the likes of Jay McKee, J.P. Dumont, Mike Grier, Daniel Briere and Chris Drury depart and didnt get anthing from them at all through free agency. They had to get something for Brad Richards...Did they get euqal value there? perhaps. .

Bernier, was a high draft pick for the Sharks, and got mixed up in the offensive talent that the sharks possess...A good young player to add to a suddenly rebuilding Buffalo Team.

One of the only knocks on the Sharks going into the trading deadline was their defense...They now add a tough, gritty, puck-moving defensive player who can take care of his goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. Both teams once again come away with a godo deal here, although it is tough to see Buffalo go from Eastern Confrence powerhouse, to a place for the talents of Ryan Miller to waste away.

Until Next time...

It's been awhile

My apologies to you, faithful reader, for not posting last Tuesday. I was out doing "active research" about hockey.

Back to the trades.

Dallas aquires Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist from Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay aquires Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Halpern, Mike Smith and a 2009 fourth-round pick from Dallas.

This may be the deal that could land Dallas the Stanley Cup come year's end. We could look back as Marty Turco hoists the cup, and say, "this is the one that sent them over the top".

Brad Richards is one of the most underrated players in the sport.

Lost in the underachieving Tampa Bay squad who was the final team to win the Cup before the lockout.

This is a great trade for both teams, Tampa was out of it long ago.

They had to get rid of Either St. Louis, Lecavalier, or Richards because they couldn't afford them all.

In return they get a young talent in Jokinen, an extremely talented goalie in Mike Smith, and a first round draft choice, to continue their rebuilding process.

My Rating: 3 and a half pucks for both squads. Bottom line: This could send Dallas over the top, it makes a great team even better. It helps Tampa continue to rebuild without trading away St. Louis and Lecavlier. Win-win for both teams.