The Denver Post’s Adrian Dater is becoming alarmingly disgusted by the Avs, but he does have the team’s back a little bit today, agreeing that they got a raw deal in their 7-4 loss to the Leafs when Milan Hejduk’s game-tying goal was waved off for a goaltender interference call on Ryan Smyth. I can’t [...]

The Rangers continue to be a mess. First, there’s the Petr Prucha situation. Prucha hasn’t been able to consistently crack the Rangers lineup over the past two seasons. Last night, with Ryan Callahan out and Prucha the only available forward, he had to play. So coach Tom Renney put him on the top line. You [...]

The Flyers think they are haunted by a ghost. The ghost of Flyers’ past. Their powerplay to penalty kill ratio is the worst in the NHL and Mike Richards says it’s because of they teams’ reputation — going all the way back to the Broad Street Bullies days. The Flyers are still a tough team, [...]

There were quite a few signs of the apocalypse last night. The Wild scored six goals against the Leafs, including a four-goal second period. That huge second was caused by Minnesota’s Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who spent the first in coach Jacques Lemaire’s dog house. But to be fair, if you’re not in Lemaire’s dog house, you’re [...]

Claude Lemieux returned to Denver last night, now 43 years old and a member of the San Jose Sharks. Lemieux is playing on the fourth line and it doesn’t sound like he’s expecting more of a role, although I suspect Sharks coach Todd McLellan will occasionally use Lemieux in shut-down roles when he senses it’ll [...]

It sure will be nice to see games that count tonight. The seemingly unstoppable Bruins are starting to get healthy. Patrice Bergeron, out with a concussion, skated yesterday, and could return to the Boston lineup as a wing. It makes sense given Boston’s depth at center and given that playing center is physically demanding. Bergeron [...]

This weekend the Times had an interesting look at how many older players are thriving in the NHL. The article says that conventional wisdom holds teams will build around young talent under a salary cap, but I think it’s quite the opposite. Teams can’t afford young talent, unless it’s home-grown, so a cheap way to [...]

I just can’t get psyched for the All-Star Game. I don’t see what separates it from a pre-season game. Obviously, at this time of year, teams, like the Blackhawks, need a break from the grind of the NHL season. But couldn’t the league just stagger a break, so half of the NHL is off for [...]

The Islanders find themselves in an interesting position. Their top goalie is down. Their backup goalie is down. And now, their backup backup goalie is suddenly stepping up big time. On the heels of a 36 save performance against the Caps Monday night, backup backup goalie Yann Danis made 39 saves against the Ducks, giving [...]

More and more, I think the Rangers and Stars are the same team. The Rangers have a slightly better record, but basically, you have two defensive teams having trouble tightening up in the clutch, as seen in Dallas’ Monday night loss to Tampa, where the Stars gave up three goals in the third. You can [...]