When a GM supports a coach, that’s usually the surest sign the coach is about to be fired.
Down in Tampa, GM Brian Lawton is supporting coach Rick Tocchet, even as the team struggles to find consistency.
One thing that’s forgotten about Tocchet is that he’s a new coach with an inexperienced coching staff. Rookie coaches and [...]

Last night Phil Kessel returned to Boston and Boston showed why they were comfortable trading such a talented player. Basically, Boston knows where Kessel’s off-switch is. They showed everyone last night as they simply played him super tight, taking away his speed and his wrist shot. He finished the game with just two shots on [...]

Fourth-liner Byron Bitz has been seeing some time on the first line with Marc Savard (and Blake Wheeler) and is expected to play up there tonight against Montreal.
The Bruins just re-signed Savard. I hadn’t considered this, but part of the reason they wanted to lock Savard down is to give them long-term depth down the [...]

Interesting. The Bruins traded defenseman Aaron Ward back to Carolina and signed Derek Morris for one year at $3.3 million.
Not everyone thinks it’s a great move for Boston. Morris has lost a few steps, but he’s still got a great shot. And I think that’s all Boston really wanted — someone who could get the [...]

Over in Chicago, Dan McNeil is already writing the 2008-09 Blackhawks’ eulogy. I guess he doesn’t want to be seen as jumping on the bandwagon if they lose to Detroit.
Len Ziehm is a bit more optimistic, writing some ways the ‘Hawks might mount a comeback.
Also, speaking of Chicago, former Blackhawk goalie Glenn Hall isn’t a [...]

Last night we saw two game threes go into overtime, with each game ending 3-2.
In Raleigh, the Bruins looked completely out of steam, yet still made it to OT before losing.
In Pittsburgh, the Caps seemed to spend the whole game on the penalty kill. And while the penalty kill was strong, it prevented Washington from [...]

In a lot of ways, it’s kind of a relief for a coach to be down 4-1 in a game. It frees the coach up to make riskier decisions, since the game is pretty much gone anyway.
Last night, down 4-1 to the Flames, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville rode his third and fourth line to a [...]

Is it me, or is every Eastern Conference team in the middle of some kind of slide?
Montreal has lost its two best defensemen and last night couldn’t beat Ottawa to solidify their playoff spot.
The Flyers are firmly entrenched in the playoffs, but have struggled lately.
The Devils seem to be coming out of their recent skid, [...]

What a crazy night last night.
The Blues beat Detroit, the Blues on the second half of a back-to-back and the Wings coming off of three days of rest.
The Blues are now in the playoffs. I don’t think anyone saw that coming a few weeks ago. The bottom of the Western Conference is crazy. It’s [...]

So after settling down for a brief period in February, Dallas goalie Marty Turco seems to be regressing, getting pulled in the first period last night, his second hook in six starts. Unsurprisingly, Dallas lost to the Blues, tightening the Western Conference playoff race even more.
Dallas coach Dave Tippett told Bill Nichols before the game [...]