Jordanv78 : yeah, Chicago is the team to beat right now in the West. And with Kane and Crawford playing the way they are it is pretty scary.

However, I believe this is pretty close to the time when Kane went down with injury last year and derailed the momentum. That likely won't happen this year but now is usually the time when something like that happens.


Also, just saw on NHL.com that Pittsburgh traded Perron for Hagelin from the Ducks. Not sure where this trade came from but it doesn't make tons of sense to me. I guess Perron didn't work with either Malkin or Crosby. Sucks but if you know it isn't working you move on and hope for someone else who will.

To be fair Dupuis has played with Crosby for years and before he played with Crosby most considered him a 3rd/2nd line player at best.

Yeah they were saying last night that over the past 82 games played, Kane has like 107 points. His clavicle ruined his MVP chances last year, but I don't think that's gonna happen this year. Even still though, the most important thing is how healthy everyone is going into the Playoffs is all that really matters to me in the long run.

Jordanv78 : yeah, he is easily the best player in the league right now. I've always enjoyed watching him play.

And I'm excited for a very similar player we have in Calgary named Johnny Gaudreau that is starting to seem a lot like Patrick Kane early on. I'm hopeful that he can follow a similar path (hockey path that is) that Kane has taken. I think Gaudreau came into the league a few years later than Kane but he has been pretty impressive in his first year and a half.

Jordanv78 : Kopitar got an 8 year extension today. 80 million over 8 years. 10 million per year. Makes him the third highest cap hit after Kane and Teows I believe.

Thoughts. Can't say he hasn't earned it. 2 cups over the last 5-6 years puts him right behind Chicago. I couldn't see him getting more but he has earned what he got.

[edit] Sort of in L.A. news - Lecavelier actually scored a goal for the Kings! I couldn't believe it when I saw it. He might actually still have some life left in him for the year. I wonder if he does well this year if he'll still retire.

I'm always nervous when the Canadiens make a trade. And this is why. We are notorious for giving away quality talent, just look at Roy,McDonagh, etc. McDonagh may not be a huge name but he's a quiet All-Star in my opinion, I love his game. Tinordi has good potential and he was the big D-man that the Canadiens needed, the only way this deal would make sense is if there was an issue behind the scenes, in the locker room or with management.

There is NO reason why we should be giving up Tinordi JUST to get Scott out of the All-Star game, it makes NO sense to me whatsoever. Markov is nearing the end of his career and I thought Tinordi had a good chance of taking a top 4 spot on this team, apparently not. I just wish the Canadiens never made trades because 9/10 times it's never good. I don't want to say this is worse then the Gomez for Mcdonagh trade, but I'm sure Tinordi will make it his goal to make us regret making him waste 2 years of his life in the minors.

Have any of you heard that the St.Louis Blues are in the running for Johnathon Drouin? Could you imagine how they would be 2-3 years down the road? The other teams in talks are Anaheim, Montreal, and the Flyers. I would be terrified to see what we would give up to get Drouin, I would assume maybe Subban, Fucale, and Beaulieu, as well as a few first rounders (knowing how the Canadiens trade). But most likely the Blues are going to get Drouin (and a few others) for Shattenkirk. What do you guys think about a Hedman and Shattenkirk duo? With Ben Bishop in the back of your net? Deadly line-up there.

geeogree : I think that he's a great player with a winning Pedigree. Do I think he's as good as guys like Kane and Toews, no. But he's certainly a key player for them.

The Hawks played a great game last night and AGAIN skated circles around Montreal in the end. They have to really be hurting with the beatdown that the Hawks gave them over the course of those 2 games in like 4 days or so.

11 straight wins for them! If they get 12, I believe that will be a franchise record! Most NHL teams have to be concerned with how well they are clicking as a team. Kane already is near his career high in goals, which is pretty crazy when you think of how good he's been. He probably would have had more than that last year, but that injury derailed his MVP hopes.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=798493&navid=nhl:topheads

Looks like the NHL has realized how bad of an idea it is to try and bury John Scott in the AHL. He won the voting for the Pacific and is the captain. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can manage.

Jordanv78 : I think he's on par with Toews actually. He's played 1 more season so has about 80-100 extra games played (factoring in some injuries I imagine) Kopitar has 727 games played, 648 points and +/- of 64. Toews has played 613 games, has 541 points and +/- of 187. Obviously not 100% equal but pretty comparable.

Playoff performances are also pretty close. Each player is just below a point per game pace though Toews has more playoff games played.

Still, I agree that he isn't quite as good (and I'm glad he is getting payed less) but being just a half million off from them is pretty accurate.

It looks like the Islanders have been slacking off a bit lately. They're still winning more games than they are losing, but I remember a time a while back when they had 2nd most point sin the East and now they are 4th with the Rangers just 1 point behind them. They still have a lot of games left though, so hopefully they can kick things up a bit.

I'm surprised that even though they have such a good record, their best player points wise isn't even in the top 40.

Yeah, I'm on board with you on that one zander. I like the Islanders for the most part and it would be nice to see them keep their spot in the playoffs.

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about the stats. While it is always nice to have superstar players getting a point per game or better I would prefer having 2 or 3 lines that put up 0.5-0.75 points per game over the season. The reason I say this is it means you've got a balanced attack coming from your team rather than relying on one major offensive line and then hoping for extra coming from the 2nd or 3rd lines. However, I'm not an NHL GM so my opinion might be junk.

Having a weaker line when it comes to one player and still managing to win so much also means that you have a great defense in addition to the balanced offense.

If they did have one OP star, like someone in the top 20 even in points, they could have been in the top 2 easily.

One thing that I noticed that was strange about the Islanders new stadium, is how they have a huge car on a platform near one of the end board corners, which are usually prime seats at an NHL game, and where a lot of action takes place. It's really kinda jarring to the eyes watching their games on TV. Just a sore thumb that lets you know the stadium wasn't built with hockey in mind.

My Hawks were able to make it 12 wins in a ROW! Broke the franchise record. Now they just need 5 more wins to tie the Penguins early 90's streak of 17. They seem like they have a great chance of at least matching that although they have a tough couple game stretch here on the road with Tampa and Florida coming up. The Blackhawks have yet to lose in 2016! Crawford now stands at 9 wins in a row and is further proving that he's probably the most under-appreciated player in the NHL. Even outsiders that listen only to TV media can't keep discounting him if he's able to hoist his 3rd cup this year and his first back to backs. Still a lot of season to play, but looking good at this point.

Kane has now broken the 70 point plateau now with another multi-point game last night. He now stands at 71 points. 30 goals and 41 assists! No one is really even close to him at this point as Benn at #2 stands at 56 points, and his teammate Seguin has 53

Well, the suspension to Wideman finally came through and it is 20 games (maximum I believe for what he did).

I'm not suggesting for 1 moment that he didn't deserve the suspension. You hit an official like that and you deserve a suspension no matter what your story is.

I personally don't think he targeted the linesman. He got hit hard and was trying to get back to the bench when the linesman skated backwards towards him and he put his arms up to defend himself and because the linesman didn't know he was there the impact was much harder than expected. Still think the suspension should have been made but 20 games is over board.

I think that the situation with Wideman was unfortunate, but he certainly deserved to be suspended as he did hit the linesman pretty hard.

Seeing the replay several times, it does seem that he was dazed from the big hit he took, and kinda just skated towards the bench, saw someone in front of him and took him out. Still though, that's no excuse for taking out a ref with a pretty big hit. I mean, where would the line be drawn? Everyone could complain that they were concussed when hitting a ref. I'm not sure what the solution is here, but I certainly don't have a problem with them drawing a BOLD line with regards to this kind of stuff.

Jordanv78 : well, there is always more information - Wideman has a concussion. I honestly think that this new information (along with the appeal that is coming) will get most if not all of the suspension revoked. He's going to be out for a while anyway but losing out on salary when the hit was more likely the result of him being concussed than him going after a linesman doesn't seem fair. I will be surprised if the suspension isn't reduced.

It is unfortunate that the whole thing happened, but I do think they need to take a hard stand when it comes to refs. Hard to judge intent or not since we are not inside this mans brain. It's not like he gave the guy a love tap. He hit him hard. Saw someone in front of him and crosschecked him. I'm not sure what the solution is, but if a guy can get suspended for 1 game for having a legitimate reason for missing the ASG, then certainly this guy needs to miss several games.

In my opinion they need to figure out a way to try to prevent this type of thing from happening again. Making it a learning experience.

Looks like Bowman has worked his magic again, making two HUGE deals for the Hawks to bolster the roster for the stretch run picking up ex Blackhawk winger Ladd from the Jets and Ehrhoff from the Kings. Both are great veterans who've won cups.

Ladd should fit in nicely with Toews and Hossa like he did in 2010 and I know the Captain is happy as heck to get him back.

Ehrhoff was a steal basically trading an older Scuderi for a guy that's still got some good tread on the tires and is an offensive Dman who will fit into the Hawks system nicely. Should be fun to see what happens the rest of the way!

Jordanv78 : Hawks overpaid for Ladd in my opinion. They gave a first round pick and a pretty good prospect to get a slightly-above-average player for two months that they probably won't be able to re-sign. I understand they are making a push for back-to-back cups but that is a big price to pay for a loan player.

Jordanv78 : yeah, the Ladd trade made me happy. Back where he belongs (although who knows if he'll be back next season). Ladd (to me) was never the top scoring guy and is better served as a 2nd/3rd line guy who can bring good secondary scoring and grit.

The Erhoff for Scuderi trade is a steal honestly. You just got a defenceman who is 4 years younger and right now probably equivalent or better in skill. He will be good depth in the playoffs. Better than having a rookie 7th defenceman to bring up. LA also gets their D-man back who they liked and won a cup with.

Honestly, I see LA vs Chicago as the Western Final again this year. Who knows though. Anything could happen.

Another trade just came through - Bowman is going for it this year! Fleishman and Weise for a 2nd rounder (in 2018) and Phillip Danault who I've never heard of.

This is another depth trade and not nearly as steep of a price as Ladd was. Not sure how they have room for all these new guys but they'll be an interesting matchup going forward.

tgags123 : I see what you are saying, but the Hawks are in a position to get a guy back for the stretch run that they have won with before. There's a lot to be said for that. The first rounder will be a low pick and Dano is good, but not someone I'm going to cry over losing, especially since the Hawks have a good backlog of forwards down in the minors.

geeogree : Great trades. Danault has been a serviceable 2nd or 3rd line guy, but not someone that Hawks fans are going to lose a lot of sleep losing. I'm really excited as a Hawks fan. Great reinforcements for the stretch run.