Meet Kevin Mitchell. He's your run-of-the-mill New Yorker: a Yankee fan, a Roger Clemens hater, and an AHL player.
That's right.
Mitchell is a New Yorker playing in the AHL. You don't see too many Bronx-born defenseman at any level of hockey.
As if that wasn't crazy enough, Mitchell, currently playing with the Houston Aeros, did a few years playing hockey in Louisiana.
Hockey in Louisiana? What'll they think of next?
Also from this week's New York Sports Express: The Rangers write the Great Book of Tears. While they sure can't win, they sure do scare, er, teach, by example.

EJ Hradek of ESPN.com has a great overview of the players likely to move before the trade deadline.
Interestingly, there are a lot of veteran goalies ready to be moved. It's kind of a symbol that the NHL's goalie drought is ending.
It's a little early to say anything for sure (in fact, it's way too early), but Philadelphia's Antero Niittymaki, filling in for the injured Robert Esche, is starting to look pretty decent. He had 19 saves in a 5-1 win over the Capitals. The next night, he had 20 saves in a 5-1 win over the Thrashers. Lost in all this, of course, is that Philadelphia's offense is in full-effect. Ten goals in two games? Coach Ken Hitchcock must be doing something right. I'm guessing he found some new threats to scare the team with.

I'm going to see MIRACLE because I think it'll be weird if I don't see it. I'm just worried about two things.
1) That the theater will be filled with angry people who thought they were going to see PASSION but were confused by MIRACLE's more Biblical title.
2) That it will suck because it was cast with real-life hockey players.
In case any of the producers are reading this, here's a little tip: We know it's a movie and it's not real. Use actors. If I have to choose between wooden acting and wooden skating, I'm going to choose wooden skating. Or better yet, just CGI all the skating. That's fine, too.
Thank you.

I'm so curious what's going on in the Dallas Star locker room. Almost all of their veterans have been struggling this season. Guys like Mike Modano, Bill Guerin, and even Sergei Zubov.
I wonder if coach Dave Tippett will stilll be behind the bench next season, assuming there's a season next season. His team's mental misfires might not be his fault, but there's just no one else to pin the unpinnable on.
Dallas beat Columbus 1-0 last night, by the way.

OK. This I don't get.
The Senators are trying to bring Rob Ray out of retirement.
I understand that the Senators are looking for some muscle and grit. That's understandable. But if they just want someone who can fight, they can probably find someone in the AHL, or even the ECHL. They don't need to be dragging guys out of retirement.
The only other reason I can think of for the Senators wanting Ray is that they're putting together some kind of on-ice strip show for the intermissions.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins, losers of 11 straight games.
It ties the team record they set in February 1983.
Apparently, to break the streak, some Penguins are getting new haircuts. Yeah. Because that's the problem. Their hair. It's not the fact that the Penguins best players belong on an average NHL team's third line.
Nah. It's the hair.

Geez. Philadelphia hasn't been exactly deep in goal in years, and now things are getting even worse.
Goalie Robert Esche sprained his MCL.
Jeff Hackett, the Flyers other goalie, has been out with a mysterious dizziness.
This is the Flyers plight. They're praying for an unproven rookie goalie to come back for their playoff run because they don't want to play their over-the-hill, ineffective goalie. I really can't see any kind of upside for the Flyers. That is, unless they trade for a genuine number one goalie.
This isn't a knock against Esche, by the way. It's just an acknowledgement that a team needs a seasoned goalie to make a Cup run. You know. Unless the goalie's name is Ken Dryden. Then it's OK to be a bit green.
Until the Flyers figure out some kind of plan—and I'm thinking they're going to make a play for Calgary's Roman Turek because he's just the kind of self-hating, inconsistent goalie the Flyers love—Antero Nittymaki will be their goalie.
Good luck Antero.

Mike Danton is crazy.
The Blues grinder was once a New Jersey Devil named Mike Jefferson. He never got along with Devils management and eventually he ended up in St. Louis.
The Blues played the Devils Saturday (the Devils won 4-1) and one of the big stories out of the game was that Danton returned the puck with which he scored his first NHL goal to the Devils locker room before the game.
The Devils didn't seem to care, and St. Louis was pretty tired, but it was a great story.
Too bad it probably wasn't true. Danton said he did send a puck to the Devils locker room, but it wasn't his first NHL goal puck.
Bottom line? It's all really weird and convoluted. But it definitely helps kill time until after the All-Star Game.

I can't stand ESPN "commentator" Barry Melrose.
I'm encouraged to see he coached a UHL game last week. Maybe he'll decide to coach there full-time. It wouldn't be too hard. He's a part-owner of the team he coached: the Adirondack IceHawks.
It really wouldn't kill him, though. Every week he seems more and more out of touch with the basic concepts of hockey. He's got to get out of the studio a little more.