Ahhh. That delightful time of the season when teams are just sick and tired of hockey.
For some teams, it's the time to shine. For others, it's the time to implode.
For the Rangers, it's the time to sit there and let other teams roll all over them (last night's win over the Islanders exlcuded):

Everyone, from the players to the coaches to the beat reporters, keep saying the same thing: "The Rangers need to learn how to win." But what does that mean? How do you learn how to win? You either win or you don't, and right now the Rangers aren't winning. You can't teach a team to win, but you can teach them to be comfortable. You can play Lindros as a top line center, as he's played all of his career. You can play Holik as a checking center and penalty killer, as he played most of his career. You can scratch players who continue to throw blind passes, like almost half of the team does. Maybe it wouldn't teach the Rangers to win, but it would at least teach them to play hockey.

Mike Comrie.
Mike Comrie.
Mike Comrie.
I just can't get enough of him.
The Flyers are still trying to work out a deal with him. His deal with Anaheim would have paid him $1.5 million for the rest of this season and $1.75 million for next season. TSN.ca reports that Comrie might want more from the Flyers, though. They also report the Flyers are only looking for a one-year deal, while Comrie might be looking for something longer.
Truthfully, I wouldn't be shocked if the Flyers ended up dealing Comrie to a Western Conference team after the holiday trade freeze. Whatever they got for Comrie, or his rights, would basically be something for nothing.
In addition, Comrie is still a pretty big question mark. He's missed nearly half the season and he's not familiar with coach Ken Hitchcock's defensive system. It would really be shocking if Comrie picked up where he left off at the end of the last season, prior to the playoffs, where he sort of wilted.
Interesting, Comrie speculated that if GM Kevin Lowe had allowed him to go to training camp, he might have gotten a deal done with the Oilers.
I never understood why GMs refuse to let unsigned players go to camp. I say, if a player wants to play for me with no contract, he's more than welcome to.
Also, in my final Comrie item for the day, the Senators looked into scoring Comrie. I'm reasonably sure Ottawa only did that to mess with Edmonton's head.

The Star Telegram has an interesting piece on how the Stars are an awful road team. While they've only dropped four of 16 games at home, they've lost 11 of 16 on the road. Having watched a couple of Star road games this season, I'd venture that part of the problem is how oddly unphysical the team is on the road. It's like wearing those road whites turns them to glass or something.
Coach Dave Tippett had better figure out how to get his team firing on the road, though. A road record that bad (and a horribly underperforming Mike Modano) is just the type of thing that gets a coach fired.
I'm just saying. Don't shoot the messenger.

I love how deep Detroit is.
Henrik Zetterberg came back from his broken leg last night and Detroit was worried about finding someplace to stick him.
Kris Draper has been playing in his spot on the Brett Hull-Pavel Datsyuk line and doing pretty well there.
It worked out, though.
Zetterberg put up a three point game as the Red Wings came back to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2. The Wings were down 2-1 with less than 20 seconds to go in the third and goalie Curtis "Limbo" Joseph pulled. The reunited Hull-Datsyuk-Zetterberg line managed to tie it, though.
And then Zetterberg set up Brendan Shanahan to win the game in overtime. It was like Zetterberg had never hurt his leg.
So things are working out in the Motor City. I really can't even imagine what they'll be like with Derian Hatcher and Chris Chelios manning their blue line again.
And when their other trillion injured stars come back, too.

Darren Pang has some nice memories of Keith Magnuson over at ESPN.com.
And I guess I should mention former Maple Leaf captain Rob Ramage is being charged with both impaired and dangerous driving, relating to Magnuson's death.
Just in case you're wondering, I really hate writing about stuff like this. I know it's related to hockey, but it really isn't. It's just messed up life stuff that happens to involve hockey players.
For the morbid, the TSN link above has a pretty huge look at NHL players who have died in horrible crashes.

Could this whole Mike Comrie thing get any crazier?
The Flyers traded defenseman Jeff Woywitka and a first-round draft pick to the Oilers for the rights to Mike Comrie.
No word on if Oilers GM Kevin Lowe made Comrie pay for this trade.
The Oilers had a deal to trade Comrie to Anaheim, but then Lowe demanded Comrie pay over $2 million out of his own pocket before the Oilers would consummate the trade. Then, all of a sudden, his rights were dealt to Philadelphia.
If I were more cynical, I'd think Lowe had second thoughts about trading a seriously pissed off forward to a fellow Western Conference team. But it's a great pick-up for Philadelphia. He's not big or physical, but Comrie's a finesse guy who might be able to move from line to line, jump-starting slumping players.
He might want to start with Jeremy Roenick, who recently admitted "I suck."
But maybe the thought of Comrie is enough. Roenick scored in last night's Flyer loss to the suddenly hot Flames.

Former Chicago Blackhawk Keith Magnuson was killed in a car accident Monday.
He was 56.
Magnuson was the type of player who just wouldn't be popular today. All he cared about was the Hawks. He became an on-ice fighter because it was the easiest way to slide into the Blackhawks line-up. He wasn't flashy or creative, but he sure loved hockey. I know this because I read Magnuson's autobiography NONE AGAINST.
Magnuson was nothing if not charming. He loved hockey. He loved talking about it. He was also religious, without being overbearing. He came off as very sincere in his book. If you happen to see a copy in your library, pick it up.

The good news?
NHL coaches aren't being fired at a faster rate than last season.
By this point last season, three NHL coaches had been fired: Darryl Sutter from the Sharks, Greg Gilbert from the Flames, and Bob Hartley from the Avs.
So far this season, the same number of NHL coaches have been fired.
The bad news?
Well. There really is none. Unless your name is Paul Maurice. And you coach the Carolina Hurricanes. Or used to coach them.
In that case, you're fired.
Maurice is probably best known for having his ass on the line since the Hurricanes went down to the Red Wings in the 2001-02 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Hurricanes never really recovered from the loss and management never upgraded the team to help them overcome the loss.
The Hurricanes brought in former Islander coach Peter Laviolette, who really isn't a bad choice. He's good with young teams. He's also good with teams trying to get their footing.
The big question now is if it's too late for the Hurricanes to turn around their second horrible season in a row.
With just eight wins, it probably is too late. But there's always next season.

Somehow it makes me feel a little better that Anaheim GM Bryan Murray is just as in the dark as everyone else about the Oilers demanding $2.53 million before they'll trade him.
Oilers GM Kevin Lowe is either crazy or a genius. I'm curious if Anaheim is ever going to offer to kick in the money themselves.

I love the Bruins. From November 6 to November 20, they didn't lose in regulation.
From November 22 to December 11, they won once in regulation.
They're just an extreme team. They find something to do and then they do it a lot.
After losing to the Capitals, the freaking Capitals, Thursday, they finally put up a second December win, beating Ottawa 3-2 via Joe Thornton.
So now what? Does Boston run the table for two weeks and then lose for three? Maybe. They're fifth in points in the East. They can put all of their losses together if that makes things easier for them. I know I don't mind.

Apparently NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has some big ideas.
In addition to negotiating (or not negotiating, depending upon who you listen to) the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement, he's also looking into ways to change the game.
Bettman, as is his way, won't committ to anything specific. But he does mention they're looking into more penalty shots, including a change to the point structure, so teams that win in regulation don't get the same points a team that wins on an overtime penalty shot would.
He also mentions making the blue lines wider, which would increase the size of the neutral zones and the defensive/offensive zones without changing the physical size of the rink. The Hockey News had a big piece on the idea earlier this year. I forget who wrote it, though.
Of course, without the CBA settled, all of this is pretty moot.
Oh. And speaking of changes, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe says he wants icing in effect for both teams during power plays, so more teams can score.