Tim Panaccio looked at some of the line combinations coming out of Flyers training camp.
It looks like Claude Giroux is going to spend a lot of time with Daniel Briere, making for a fast, dynamic, and small line. The interesting (and unsurprising) thing is, is that Briere doesn’t see size as an issue, pointing out [...]

When you run a sports team in a media-centric city like New York, there aren’t a lot of places to hide if your team isn’t successful. Sure some, most notably the Yankees’ Joe Torre when he coached here, could parlay past success into a fairly consistent waiver from criticism, but other than that, if you’re [...]

I’m never able to get very excited about the NHL draft. Very few draftees have an immediate impact, so it’s hard to get psyched about players you probably won’t see for a while.
Greg Logan had an interesting piece about if teams should take the player they value most highly or the one the market values. [...]

Brent Sutter is starting to look like another successful graduate of the Mats Sundin Rapid Decision-Making Program. He’s still not sure he wants to coach the Devils next season.
The longer Sutter waits, the less effective he’ll be as a coach if he decides to return. Would you play hard for someone who was that [...]

Sometimes, during the playoffs, it’s nice to check-in on what the losing teams are up to.
For instance, Jim Kelley has a great piece reminding HabNation not to give up on goalie Carey Price after his brutal playoff performance. Kelley points out it takes a while for a great goalie to emerge and uses Roberto Luongo [...]

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, [...]

Two fun facts to start today:

The Blues have one first period goal in their last 11 games. But they’re also 7-3-1 during that stretch, so maybe that’s working for them.
Flyers coach John Stevens enjoys baking. I had him pegged as a griller, not a baker.

The baking thing comes up in Anthony J. SanFilippo’s column on [...]

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 probably [...]

Trade rumors are finally starting up again. The one thing I hate about the start of the NHL season is that there aren’t a lot of rumors as everyone pretty much stands pat to see what they’re dealing with:

The Ducks, Canucks, and Rangers are all still interested in Mats Sundin. I don’t see how the [...]