IKnowPhysics

It's a legitimate path, and likely the same path by which we'd keep Derek Roy around as long as possible next season, regardless of whether we had intentions of signing him.

NHL Attendance ranking of Anaheim Ducks: 26th Only worse: Columbus, Dallas, Islanders, Phoenix That's your answer. Side bar: LOL, Dallas, where'd all your fans go? You post up winning seasons, but don't make the playoffs, and suddenly your attendance percentage is NHL worst? Lulz.

So he says, this week. Bob McKenzie via Twatter has it right. Pittsburgh may want to resign Staal and they'd probably attempt to do it real soon. Otherwise, Staal's trade value drops considerably as a one year UFA heading towards a short term rental. But seeing as how Staal's getting married this Friday, it's doubtful any party wants to bring up the conversation of long term contracts. So if contract talks don't go well in the week before July 1, Staal may be put up for auction then. If they wait until after July 1, suitors for a one year contract may dry up as needs are satiated in the UFA market, and Pittburgh may have to/end up wanting to keep him until the trade deadline next year because nobody would then give them good return after the UFA period. If I were Staal's agent, I would be paid handsomely to know all of this, and I'd be advising the kid that if he wants a real payday, to wait it out until July 1. If he does, he'd likely be one the few high quality UFA centers left unsigned by their club next year. It may mean he plays a month or a year for a different club, but he'll get paid for a several years for the sacrifice.

I'd hit it.

Not sure that's going to do it. Ryan was the 2nd overall pick in '05. He's a 30-35 goal scorer in each of his four seasons- he's only 25. He makes only $5.1M, and he's locked in through '14-'15. I would expect the the price to be in the range of Roy/1st/2nd, Roy/Sekera/1st, Stafford/Sekera/1st, or Stafford/1st/Miller-Hiller, where 1st is either a 1st round pick this year or a young depth player like Nathan Gerbe. Bob McKenzie's not wrong, Anaheim needs depth- their bottom six and last two are terrible.

No big deal. Regier said he was seeking players not in a one-year contract scenario; Staal only has one year left. He'd be a great fit on the ice, but one year could come at too high a price. Bobby Ryan's got game and would fit well in Ruff's two-way system. Unless you ice three legitimate scoring lines (maybe you could with Roy/Hodgson/Ennis), picking Ryan up would make Stafford completely expendable. The rise of Derek Stepan into the NYR center pool of Richards, Anisimov, Boyle, means that Dubinsky (who's more expensive than everyone but Richards) is movable, especialy if they want room to resign Mitchell or bring up Chris Kreider. Makes sense. NYR's going to be looking for wingers, likely, with the UFA status of Fedotenko and Prust. They could also stand to gain a big time defensive defensemen to help Marc Staal, who struggled with puck posession.

Looks like Baby Gap was having a sale on hats.

Thank you, I will. That kid could dunk over him.

Not really, as long as we played >35 games or so and full playoffs. The reason the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports is because of the grueling playoffs, not necessarily because of the long season. The only thing the regular season has to do with the Cup is determining who gets to compete for the cup and the seeding. As we've seen lately, seeding doesn't have to mean much. I know playoff contention comes down to tiebreakers even with a full 82 games season, but there's some number of games that's less than 82 that result in a good representation of the best teams competing for the cup. My guess is that the number could be around 35 or so. That would correspond to a season that started in October on time and ended at December 31st. The NHL points standings (not adjusted for games played) at 12/31 were as follows: NYR Boston Florida Philly Pittsburgh New Jersey Winnipeg Ottawa Chicago Vancouver Los Angeles Detroit Minnesota St Louis Nashville Dallas Only one team in the east is different (Washington for Winnipeg), two teams in the west (Phoenix and San Jose for Dallas and Minnesota). I think that's a reasonable group of teams to compete for the cup, as compared to an 82 game reality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gciFoEbOA8

Immediately after the first game, Goose publicly acknowledged that he understood his (and his linemates') error. He knew what he needed to do and at the next available opportunity, he executed to the best of his ability. You don't have to like the results of the fight, but I respect Goose's path to get there. And examine the bigger picture: after the first game, some media outlets had labeled the Sabres as lacking courage; the determination that Goose had going into that fight took the wind out of those sails.

Rick's induction to the Sabres HOF. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-nwC_iI7Q Ennis catches the pass from the corner, then saucer passes over a defenders stick to himself for the backhander into the open side of the net. Sick.

Sabres up 4-nothing in the Christmas home game. Regehr trashes Ovechkin at the end boards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5So5h6ghkA Goose wraps up the unfinished business. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ2v3-XuZWg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxvdvoQgAy8

In Engrish (translate didn't work above): If free agent signings go our way, we could reanimate the Hasek-Biron combo.

I HAVE HAD IT WITH THESE MOTHER######ING SNAKES ON THIS MOTHER######ING PLANE.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=395392 Kesler out for six months after shoulder surgery; expected to miss the start of next season. Sorry Gillis, no backsies.

He leads the Sabres in ice time with 23:20. He leads the D in scoring with 30 points and shots with 130 in 59 games. He has 9 points and is +6 in his last 12 games. Solid.

This, except Ruff isn't the prinicpal, he's the teacher, and Cody's staying after class to work on his arithmetic. Because the team's been on the road and playing games, Hodgson only had his first full practice with the team within the last week(end?). We're playing important hockey and he wants to catch up to the system, not to mention contribute on the stat line. And who knows, maybe that's the first time Ruff has gotten a chance to work with Cody one on one on the ice.

Word on the street is that after succumbing to Boston's physical style of play, the Canucks developed an almost palpable size inferiority complex. ESPN analysts believe they were desparately trying to make a deal for Steve Ott of Dallas, but when that didn't happen, they made late moves for Samual Pahlsson and Zack Kassian. Bringing in Pahlsson (and already having Sedin, Kesler, and alternate captain Malhotra) meant that Hodgson would see even less playing time, making the blue chipper expendable in the short term for another large body in Kassian. Luke Schenn, talented as he may be, wouldn't have fit with the moves Vancouver thought they needed to make: adding size up front on the checking lines.

Kinda interesting behind-the-scenes bit: the conference call to the league informing of the trade.

Time will tell, but this trade may possibly end up better than trading ~30 games of Goose (and a 4th) for a 1st. Excellent ambition today, DR. Welcome Cody Hodgson and what'shisname Sulzer!

I got the impression from her broken english that they were not "real," but were "real heavy." Like silicone bricks.

Played pickup for an hour and a half instead of eating lunch today, feelsgoodman. Now that I'm starving, I'm going to leave work early to get me some Chick Fil A before meeting up with the girl later for a free movie screening at Paramount. Bonus: I'll beat traffic up to Hollywood.

I believe it all started when we let go of Rob Niedermayer.