Well, Malkin's been on fire. He's had seven points in his last two games to tie Alfredsson for second in league scoring. If he keeps this up, he could be a contender for MVP.

You know what's an embarrassment to hockey? The Southeast division. Washington leads it with 59 points, but they wouldn't even be in the playoffs if the division leader wasn't guaranteed one of the top three spots. The team that gets sixth in the East is going to be very happy indeed.

What is it with Buffalo and cutting people's throats?

DEFINITELY TOO SOON

COME ON!

Nah, the only reason why I posted it is because he's in stable condition. But I mean jesus, luckily he got off the ice as fast as he did. Just by seeing about 20 times now on Sportscenter, it's amazing he had the ability to keep moving off the ice. It just began to gush as soon as the skate hit. But it's great to see that he seems to be doing okay now.

But seriously. What's with Buffalo?

Eek. I've got a really strong stomach. But cutting the neck just gets me faint-feeling. Glad he's doing okay. Sounds like it could've went really bad really fast.

I know these guys are pros, just like anyone else in the big sports leagues, but man... I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. I guess it's one of those one in a million things. Everything lined up and it happened.

And of course, the players will never wear neck protectors, just like most of them still don't wear visors, just like most of them didn't wear helmets for the longest time. What is it gonna take?

I didn't catch it on ESPN, and I don't want to search it on youtube. It does make me shiver just thinking about it.

Someone dying on the ice. It's what it took to get helmets in the league and something similar will probably have to happen here. That saying, I highly doubt it's going to happen. Both this and the Lamarchuck things were such freak accidents and weren't likely to happen compared to someone playing without a helmet and getting seriously hurt.

I forgot to mention that he's now been upgraded to good condition.

Even so, what's the harm in wearing neck protectors? If everyone has them, then you really don't lose anything by wearing them, so I don't understand the players' reasoning behind not wearing them. It's the same thing with visors. Are the players really so competitive that they're willing to risk their lives? Makes no sense to me.

I'm all for required use of visors. Especially that it's FAR more likely to be hit with something in the face than it is in the neck.

I mean, you can't just be so cautious as you need to protect every part of the body. I mean, there are fights pretty much EVERY night, where they pretty much become boxers at that point. SO unless you ban fighting, then you probably shouldn't require NECK protectors. Just make it an option.

Holy shit, we beat the Penguins. Still in 8th! One point out of 7th! Two out of 6th! Ten out of 1st!

Hehe, go Bruins!

Thank freaking goodness the Habs won last night. I don't know what I would have done if they had lost their fourth straight, but it wouldn't have been pretty. Thankfully no this: , and this instead:

Peace,
Mike

The Wings lose their 6th straight.

They just can't ignite their offense!!!

It's so frustrating.

when was the last time somebody got hit in the neck with a skate? Do you remember? NO!! because it was so god damn long ago. Everyone is bound to get hurt sometime when you're playing professional sports so you just gotta go out there and accept the risk. Hockey would look really stupid if players were skating around all bundled up with neck protectors, visors or even the junior league masks.

The Wings FINALLY get a big win. 4-0 over the Avalanche.

But we lose Lidstrom in the process

Trade deadline tomorrow!

There's been a huge lack of big trades this season, so I'm hoping for a healthy amount. Now that Sundin's said he'll stay in Toronto, and Forsberg's signed with Colorado, I expect the remaining rumoured forwards (Hossa, Jokinen, Richards, Tanguay, Marleau) will all have a fair amount of teams asking about them. So there should be some big trades tomorrow. Hopefully.

Some big ones so far...

Tampa trades Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist to Dallas for Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen, and Jeff Halpern.
Montreal trades Cristobel Huet to Washington for a second round pick (this one boggles my mind. Why would Montreal go with two rookie goalies? )
Buffalo trades Brian Campbell and a seventh round pick to San Jose for Steve Bernier and a first round pick.
Columbus trades Adam Foote to Colorado for a conditional first round pick.
Columbus trades Sergei Fedorov to Washington for Theo Ruth.

The Stars are contenders this year. Even though it seems like every year they have one of the West's best records then disappear in the playoffs, they look really solid. Ribiero is a legit "star"(currently 9th in the lead in scoring) that they didn't have the last couple years to lead them, and Richards should only help.

Montreal A second round pick for Huet, really? Wtf?

Prospal to Philly for Picard and a conditional pick. Makes sense, Prospal is having a great year but is old. Lightning are looking to the future.

The West certainly got a lot stronger today; they've got no less than four legitimate contenders (Detroit, Dallas, Anaheim, San Jose) and a whole bunch of potential surprises. The East just looks really weak in comparison.

Massive trade right at the deadline...

Atlanta sends Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh for Angelo Esposito, Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, and a first round draft pick.

Pittsburgh gave up a lot for just a rental player, but their team just got a lot stronger right now. Throwing Hossa into the mix with Crosby, Malkin, Staal can only mean good things for that team.

I guess the Bruins thinking was, they'll be getting Patrice Bergeron back soon so that's just like aquiring a premiere center from absolutely nowhere.

I like that we'll be getting Bergeron back soon it seems, but.......

I think the Pens have made a mistake and are worse off for it. Not only did they give WAY too much for Hossa, but they gave up players that I feel were key to the chemistry of the team. I wouldn't be surprised to see the team play worse now. Hossa is a question mark when it comes to the playoffs, too.

We'll see I suppose. I think some of the big winners are Washington (who are making a huge push for the playoffs) and San Jose and Dallas (Anaheim is really squished in the middle now - they better watch out).

Ottawa did very little, and will continue to falter. I was very convinced in the first half of the season that Ottawa and the Eastern conference would bring home the trophy. But I'm pretty convinced now that the Western Conference will be taking the cup this year.

Peace,
Mike

Heh, even after the 16-2 start, I was convinced Ottawa was NOT winning. They just can't hold it together, after top seed after top seed.

I can't believe New Jersey is still this good. Their biggest offensive weapons are um... Zach Parise and Brion Gionta? And I don't recognize any of their defencemen's names. Damn you, Brodeur.