Yesterday’s trade deadline was one of the quietest I can remember in years.
There just weren’t any really big moves. Teams like Pittsburgh and Phoenix made a couple of moves to get better, but none of them were exciting blockbuster trades that make you gasp.
My theory is that the Olympics suppressed any huge trades. GMs just [...]

Last night was kind of interesting. There were 10 games played, with four shutouts.
Goalies Steve Mason (CBJ), Ryan Miller (BUF), Ty Conklin (backup; STL), and Nik Backstrom (MIN) each kept the red light off behind them.
So is this a sign defense is back in the NHL? Is the NHL reverting to its pre-lockout lockdown defensive [...]

The Devils seem to agree with the conventional wisdom that the Caps aren’t the same team without Alex Ovechkin.
New Jersey beat the Capitals 3-2 at home, where the Devils have been pretty awful.
The Devils had a lot of comments relating to how the Capitals seem bummed about playing without their star.
About the only downside [...]

There were some interesting moves yesterday.
The Caps waived Chris Bourque for salary purposes, hoping he would sneak through into the AHL. He didn’t and wound up claimed by the Penguins.
Bourque is bummed, yet psyched.
Bourque has a lot of upside. He’s looked great in the AHL, and while he’s small, that smallness has translated to great [...]

This weekend, Tim Panaccio had a great piece on the great Freddy Shero, who for whatever reason, isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Coach Shero was innovative, yet complicated. He was very old school, even for the 1970s, yet he was always ready to embrace a new idea.
Panaccio says Shero might not be in the [...]

Adrian Dater has an interesting question: do we really know what the big deal is about Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson?
I think the big deal is that he’s an unproven free agent, so you have the excitement of a rookie coupled with the track record of a veteran. A young veteran.
I’m pretty curious how he’ll pan [...]

The Penguins are going to the Stanley Cup finals thanks to last night’s impressive win over the Penguins. Puck Daddy had a nice look at how the Penguins did it. I’d like to add one other reason to the pile, though.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma had the Penguins play an aggressive defense, with players pinching [...]

I’m shocked Washington’s Sergei Fedorov would leave the NHL for the KHL.
Sure, his best days are behind him, but he was a pretty important part of the Capitals playoff run, serving as a calming influence on the ice. I really thought Washington would try and keep him and Fedorov would try and stay. After all, [...]

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 I went out with some friends to watch game seven, all of us thinking this could possibly be the greatest game seven we had ever seen.
Obviously, we were mistaken. Shocked and mistaken.
You can talk about the offensive explosion that was the Penguins 6-2 win. But I was shocked by the Penguins defense. [...]