WTF Jay Feaster?!?!?!?!?

Alright everyone, let's see if we can follow this correctly. After the Bruins lost to the Canadiens in a shootout tonight, it appeared that the best news to replace the anger over losing to your archrival, as well as losing first place in the process. Aaron Ward of TSN tweeted that the Bruins were set to acquire Jarome Iginla, who's been stuck on a middling Calgary Flames team for many years now. He should have been traded years ago when his trade value was higher; now he's appeared headed to Boston for a whole lot less than he was worth. Until the press conference, when it was announced that it wasn't the Bruins who acquired him, but in fact the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ah, yes. The Pittsburgh Penguins. Owners of the longest winning streak in sports after the Miami Heat's loss tonight to the Bulls. The Penguins, who just traded for Brendan Morrow from the Stars and Douglas Murray from the Sharks. Pittsburgh, who has Sidney Crosby looking as much a lock for the Hart trophy as any player in recent memory (unless David Steckel reacquaints himself). Yes, this team needed to add a future Hall of Famer to be sure to bring the Cup back to Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh were the favorites to win the Stanley Cup (which is funny after the start of the year the Chicago Blackhawks had); now they are a team that seems like not winning a Cup will be the biggest failure in NHL history. The Bruins now must move on without an obvious player who can improve this squad (Iginla is actually more of a fit for Boston than Pittsburgh, which is the ultimate shame). As for the Flames, they basically decided that Kenneth Agostino, Ben Hanowski and 2013 first-round pick (likely pick #30) is worth more to them than Alex Khokhlachev, Matt Bartkowski and a conditional 1st round pick. All for the greatest player in their history in Iginla. Even the Blue Jackets had a better trade haul for Rick Nash and he asked out of Columbus

Even David Kahn is Laughing

And he just gave Darko Milicic a four year deal, which will lead to Al Jefferson being traded.

It started when the Flyers signed Jody Shelley to a three year/$1.1 million per deal. This says my reaction to the move. Shelley not only filled the void that Colton Orr left as the enforcer, which Donald Brashear never did, he exceeded him by showing ability as a all-around hockey player. The Rangers decided he wasn't worth that much.

It would have been defensible until they signed Derek Boogaard for 4 years/$1.65 per. Boogaard, who's while being one of the most intimidating enforcers, has no ability to do anything other than fight. The last four years, Boogaard hasn't scored a goal, so I guess if he scores once for the Rangers, this move worked. This was the worst contract given of the day because of the length more than the money, though the money sucks. And the entire hockey world was laughing.

Then, Darryl Sutter came in and stole the thunder, by bringing back Olli Jokinen. Yes, that Olli Jokinen. The same guy who's lost the shootout for the Rangers on the last day of the regular season, missing the playoffs and letting the Flyers go to the Stanley Cup Final. The same guy who was such a disaster in Calgary that they took on the remaining two years of Ales Kotalik's deal to get rid of him, when all they needed was to let his contract lapse. Yet, they sign him and Sutter supposedly said they should have never let him go in the first place, or something to that effect, which Darren Dreger of TSN reported on the air. It inspired this tweet from Dreger. It was laugh-out-loud funny to everyone in the hockey world and yours truly.

The question of course, which was the more ridiculous move, Boogey to the Rangers or Olli to the Flames. This one I will have to put as a new poll, already next to the LeBron poll. I'm curious how this poll turns out.

Gonchar to the Sens and more

The biggest signing of the first hour was Sergei Gonchar signing with the Ottawa Senators for 3 years/$5.5 mil per. According to Pierre LeBrun, the Pens would have signed him to that deal if he wasn't over 35. This means Volchenkov is definitely gone and now the Pens might be in on two defensemen. I think three years for Gonchar can work, but the first year must be good. If not, then it will be a bust. Remember, Gonchar gets hurt a lot, and that's why I was wary to sign him.

The Rangers resigned Erik Christensen to a two year deal just days after everyone in NY questioned his sanity for rejecting a deal. Looks like Christensen got a little more with about $975K/year. Good move by Rangers since any move that isn't a cap crippling move is a good thing. That's what its come to for the Glen Sather Era, don't f--- s--- up too much.

Also, Alex Tanguay is going back to Calgary for one year at $1.7 million. If he has anything left, this is the best place to see, with previous success. The big story for the Flames is a rumored Marc Savard-Robin Regehr trade. Both guys have no movement clauses, both solve issues for both teams (Flames need a playmaking center for Iginla, Bruins find a taker for Savard and get a good D-man for their trouble). Stay tuned.

NHL Preview

It's finally here, the NHL season is ready to begin. After months of waiting through NHLPA nonsense, television distribution battles and the peak of the Balsillie/Bettman civil war, we finally drop the puck. There is a buzz to the start of this hockey season and just a pure excitement which I can't blame at all. Can Crosby and the Penguins repeat? Can OV win his first Cup? Did Marian Hossa pick the right team or are the Blackhawks destined for 12 straight Cup Finals losses? All these burning questions will be answered as the season progresses so let's begin with the preview.


The Eastern Conference seems to have a defined pecking order as you have the elite teams, the bubble and the bad ones. The Penguins, Caps, Bruins, Flyers and Hurricanes are going to make the playoffs. I think the Capitals will end up with the top seed, since the Southeast hasn't improved the way the Atlantic and Northeast have. The Flyers will win the second seed, beating out the Penguins for the division and the Bruins will be third in the East as the loss of Phil Kessel will drop their point total, but the defensive style of coach Claude Julien will keep them toward the front. It helps to have Zdeno Chara leading the team at the blue line, an eventual replacement for Marc Savard to work in unison with (Marco Sturm? Blake Wheeler? Milan Lucic?!?) and another Vezina trophy run for Tim Thomas this season. Pittsburgh and Carolina should end up 4 and 5 to close out the contenders. Pittsburgh still have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to score for them and I bet that Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and Jordan Staal will have bigger point totals this year. For Carolina, I don't think the mistakes from the last year after will happen to them and I expect career years from Eric Staal and Cam Ward.


You can't say the bad teams without mentioning the NY Islanders, who will be the worst team in the league after their only free agent signing consist of goaltenders (yes, goaltenders is plural). In a related story, Rick DiPietro is in the fourth year of his 15-year deal and I don't have a joke here. At least John Tavares will look forward to Taylor Hall joining him next year to form a foundation for the Islanders to succeed in the future when their playing in Hamilton or Kansas City. Tampa Bay has another high draft pick in Victor Hedman, who will patrol the blue line, Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis are still capable of scoring and Steven Stamkos is progressing into a good player. Still, the Lightning don't have the depth to contend for a playoff spot. The Thrashers are in the exact same situation as they have scoring depth but still can't keep pucks out of the net. Expect Ilya Kovalchuk to be traded at the trade deadline, remember the Bruins have the draft picks from the Phil Kessel trade with Toronto. Speaking of the Leafs, they will be better defensively and a joy to watch because of the fighting to come from longtime fave Colton Orr and others. However, truculence and playoffs don't mix, plus the Leafs don't have the secondary scoring to support Kessel once he starts.


This leaves a group of six that can either make the playoffs or miss: New Jersey, NY Rangers, Florida, Montreal, Buffalo and Ottawa. I include the Sens because they have the goaltending to possibly make the playoffs and the scoring to make up for the Heatley trade. However, I just don't trust them to make it and Pascal Leclaire must prove to be able to stay healthy. I was going to pick against the Canadiens before the Andrei Markov injury. Now that he's out for four months, there's no chance for them, which is a shame because I liked how Carey Price looked last night and could have bounced back. The Sabres will be back in the playoffs as Ryan Miller's injury (and to a lesser extent Thomas Vanek) was the only reason they missed the playoffs. As long as Scott Gomez doesn't get him again, the Sabres will end the two year drought. For the past few years, my prejudice of the Devils has led me to always say it's the end of their run of success and this year I'm not fooling around: 40 wins for Maaaaaartyyyyyy and the trap is back for the Devils (like it ever really left). So who's in between the Rangers and Panthers? Fact is, I just can't pick the Panthers to make the playoffs, though the loss of Jay Bouwmeester won't hurt them as much as you think. Marian Gaborik plays enough games to be effective for the Rangers and they make the playoffs on Henrik Lundqvist's back.


As for the top five teams, Boston won't feel the loss of Kessel until the playoffs when they have to score goals and Carolina won't be good enough defensively to knock off either the Flyers, Caps or Pens, despite Cam Ward's best efforts. I think Pittsburgh is due to for a bit a of a fall, the loss of Rob Scuderi will prove too great this year and won't make their third straight Stanley Cup Final. This leaves Philly and Washington; the addition of Chris Pronger seems to be fate for him and the Flyers, both fit better than a glove. Add that the Flyers can score from three lines (whether Mike Richards, Jeff Carter or youngsters Claude Giroux and rookie James Van Riemsdyk), the only question becomes whether Ray Emery can revert to 2007 Emery who led the Sens to the Cup Final. However, I believe in the Capitals, I believe in the tandem of Jose Theodore and Simeon Varlamov in net, I believe in Mike Green and he will score 40 goals this year, I believe Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom will score over 80 points and most importantly, I believe in Alexander Ovechkin will be motivated to even the Stanley Cup score with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.


The Western Conference seems for the first time in a long time to be wide open as the Red Wings aren't as overwhelming of a favorite as years past. I do know that the Colorado Avalanche and the Phoenix Coyotes won't be any good. Both teams are too young and Phoenix has the weight of this bankruptcy and relocation that's hanging over this team. The Predators haven't improved and will miss the playoffs again and so will the Edmonton Oilers, despite having Pat Quinn as coach; they just keep getting burned by players not coming in free agency. I wish the L.A. Kings were back to being a good team and next season they will be, but this isn't next season and Ryan Smyth isn't enough to make the Kings a playoff team. I wanted to make the Minnesota Wild my surprise playoff team, I really did. They have taken off the shackles of the trap, the other Nicklas Backstrom is an elite goaltender and Martin Havlat is capable of replacing Marian Gaborik in every way (including injuries), but the West is too strong to creep through for them.


The team that will miss the playoffs who made it a year ago is the Blue Jackets. I hate to say it, since I want Columbus to succeed, but a sophomore jinx is due for Steve Mason and they need more than Rick Nash to make the playoffs. This leaves the door open for the Dallas Stars to return to the playoffs now that Brenden Morrow is back from last year's injury and the failed Sean Avery experiment is a year behind them. Most importantly, we all forgot that Marty Turco has been a top-5 goaltender in this league in the last six years and should bounce back from last year's tough season. The St. Louis Blues will return to the playoffs as well since last year's team was a year ahead of schedule, plus the return of Paul Kariya and Erik Johnson should also improve the team. I was going to have the Ducks out of the playoffs, but I can't ingore Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry for scoring, Scott Niedermayer returning for one more year and the terrific J.S. Giguere-Jonas Hiller combo in net.


The top five in the West is almost as solid as in the East with the Blackhawks, Flames, Red Wings, Sharks and Canucks. For Vancouver, it's almost only because of Roberto Luongo, though keeping the Sedins doesn't hurt. Eventually, a lack of offense will do them in and I see another second round exit, the Canucks trademark. The San Jose Sharks went all in with the Dany Heatley trade and if properly motivated, he can have a huge season, like Joe Thornton in 2006. I expect huge seasons from both Heatley and Thornton, another Vezina-type season from Evgeni Nabokov and the Sharks will still end the year with an early playoff exit. I'm down on Detroit this season and not just because they signed Todd Bertuzzi (there is a legitimate curse having him on your team since Steve Moore, like a Madden cover). The Wings have had too many losses to free agency and it probably takes a year for youngsters like Justin Abdelkader and Ville Leino to become big time players. So instead of 110 points and first in the West, Detroit get 100 and finishes in 4th.


Most everyone is picking the Chicago Blackhawks to win the West this year. The so-called experts point out the signing of Marian Hossa, the resigning a various RFA's to long-term deals and the continued emergence of Jonathan Toews and Patrick "20 Cent" Kane. What hurts the Hawks is Hossa's early season injury and the big question is if Christobal Huet can be the number one goaltender on this team. If this turns out no, the Hawks won't win. Hossa will make a difference as the season progresses and this team will be the top seed in the West, but they won't win. So who's left? The Calgary Flames.


I think the Flames did a great job in the offseason acquiring Jay Bouwmeester on an already strong blue line group with Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr. A full season with Olli Jokinen, along with Craig Conroy and Daymond Langkow looks good, in addition to adding a couple ex-Rangers in Nigel Dawes, who should thrive in a more open environment to play hockey and Freddie Sjostrom, one of my faves who will add terrific penalty killing ability. Jarome Iginla remains my favorite hockey player which all hockey players should model themselves after now that Joe Sakic is retired. He just reminds me of Mark Messier in so many ways; the toughness, the snarl when necessary, his scoring ability and his leadership of that team. He's a guy that is so good that you never want him to leave Calgary; in other words, The Franchise. The one player I haven't mentioned was Miikka Kiprusoff who has declined in net the past three seasons. If the Flames lower his workload from 75 games to about 55-60, he will have a better season and be better prepared to go through the long, arduous journey that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is the 30th season the Flames have played in Calgary and I can't think of anything better than to see Jarome Iginla face Alexander Ovechkin in the Stanley Cup Final this June.


East: 1. Wash 2. Philly 3. Boston 4. Pitt 5. Car 6. NYR 7. Buf 8. NJ 9. Fla 10. Ott 11. Mont 12. Tor 13. Atl 14. TB 15 NYI

West: 1. Chi 2. SJ 3. Cgy 4. Det 5. Ana 6. Stl 7. Van 8. Dal 9. Minn 10. Clb 11. LA 12. Edm 13. Nash 14. Pho 15. Col

SCF: Washington over Calgary in 6.

Stanley Cup preview extravaganza

The Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight and it's time to have the official NHL playoff preview. No teaser today as the games begin in an hour and I want to finish this before the opening games. Let's start in the West:

Western Conference

#1 San Jose vs #8 Anaheim- The worst possible matchup for the Sharks as this team who needs to get rid of the choker label in the playoffs has to play the 07 Cup champ Ducks. The Ducks still have a lot of the same guys who won and could use that experience in this series. For the Sharks, they have to have a big series from Joe Thornton, who needs to shed his label of being the A-Rod of hockey and failing to show up. One of these years, the Sharks have to win and I'm not big on Jonas Hiller. Sharks in 6.

#2 Detroit vs #7 Columbus- Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Blue Jackets, your reward, the defending champ Red Wings. However, the Jackets have the advantage at goal with rookie Steve Mason against the struggling Chris Osgood (or Ty Conklin). The Wings are better in every other way so it comes down to Mason standing on his head. That being said, I think he will and the Wings tend to lose early every few years so I have the Jackets in 6.

#3 Vancouver vs #6 St. Louis- The most surprising team in the playoffs are the Blues who are a year ahead of schedule by making this year's playoffs. John Davidson has done a great job turning around this franchise from doormat to playoffs. They get to play the Canucks who had a great second half to win their division and a lot of pressure to go far in the playoffs with the Sedin twins and Mats Sundin. I would love to take JD's team here and they will make this a long series, but I think the Blues won't have an answer for Roberto Luongo and the Canucks win in 7.

#4 Chicago vs #5 Calgary- The Hawks are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and will play a struggling Flames team. They have been hurt and lost their chance to have home-ice in the first round and now start on the road. The Flames are one of my favorite teams, Jarome Iginla is the best example of a Mark Messier in the NHL that we currently have, and that is ALWAYS a good thing. That said, the Hawks win in 5. They are playing well and the Flames aren't, plus Nikolai Khabibulin knows how to beat the Flames, going back to the 04 Cup Finals.

Now to the East:

#1 Boston vs #8 Montreal- The hatred between the Habs and B's runs deep and these two Original Six foes gave us a preview of things to come last Thursday. The Canadiens have enjoyed a 24-7 series advantage and in 2002 and 2004 have beaten the Bruins as an 8th seed and 7th seed. However, the Bruins are better in every way against the Habs and it will be the B's in 5.

#2 Washington vs #7 NY Rangers- We have come to my team, the Rangers, who played their best week of the year last week after beating the Habs and sweeping Philly to make the playoffs. They now get to play Ovie and the Caps who have Stanley Cup buzz. Like our other 2-7 matchup, the only edge the Rangers have is in net with Henrik Lundqvist. He needs to be absolutely great and hope Jose Theodore is poor in net since the Rags can't score with consistency. Anyone who thinks the Caps will win in 4 or 5 are nuts, but unfortunately I don't pick with my heart in this blog. Caps in 7 and let's move on.

#3 New Jersey vs #6 Carolina- The best goalie battle is here as MAAAAAAAAARRTY Brodeur and the Devils take on Cam Ward and the Canes. Sometimes, like with the Rangers, I have to go against my heart and pick against my team; other times, my heart and brain are in sync and I'm picking the Canes in 5. They have outplayed the Devils all year and only lost the last game to them when they sat out Ward. They have been one of the hottest teams in the East since March 1 and could be a sleeper Cup contender.

#4 Pittsburgh vs #5 Philadelphia- The rematch of last year's East finals will start in the same city as it did last year after the Flyers blew a 3-2 lead Sunday to the Rangers. Now they have to go to the Igloo to face Crosby, Malkin and the Pens. The Flyers had been my sleeper in the East all year since they can score with anyone, but they are maddening inconsistent and the Pens having Game 7 home is the difference, plus they are the other hot team in the East. Pens in 7.

Stanley Cup prediction:

The Sharks will find a way to finally get to the Stanley Cup finals and they will take on the Penguins, as much as it pains me to say. The Sharks win the Cup in 7 as Crosby must wait yet again for his championship. Now watch the Red Wings and Devils go to the finals.