During the World Cup, we saw a lot of Russia's best players decline to play for their country. The team was not even represented by an NHL goalie. That trend looks to be continuing, as two major Russian forwards have declined invitations to play for Russia in Turin. Sergei Federov and Alexander Mogilny are the first of what could be many of NHLers who decide against playing for Russia. It will be interesting to see what Russian goalies decide to suit up for Russia. With Khabibulin's play as of late, you have to wonder whether he will take the time off to figure out what is wrong with his game...
The Pens fired Eddie Olczyk, and they should have. That being said, I don't think Michel Therrien is a good replacement. I think they should have found someone with more NHL experience. I don't really know who would have been a good replacement, but I don't see Therrien being any improvement over Olczyk. We'll see if he can prove me wrong...for the city of Pittsburgh's sake, I hope he does.
A lot of goaltender rumours are floating around. First of all, Biron has won 11 straight, which means he is not going anywhere. Noronen is the only goalie being shopped by the Sabres. Luongo, Aebisher, and Denis are the three best goalies on the market. All three could easily find new homes by the trade deadline.
Speaking of the trade deadline, the increased cap for next year should increase the amount of trade talk around the league. A team like Toronto or Detroit can now take on a player with a longer contract now, because they have more money to work with. If the Cap reaches 45 million, watch the big teams approach it.
Here are tonight's NHL Scores :
Vancouver 5 Philadephia 4
Columbus 1 Carolina 2
Dallas 2 Ottawa 0
Atlanta 3 New Jersey 2 (F/OT)
Detroit 2 Florida 3 (F/OT)
Chicago 3 Nashville 5
Boston 3 Minnesota 2
Montreal 3 Edmonton 2 (After 2 Periods)
Tampa Bay 2 Phoenix 0 (After 2 Periods)
I finally bought an Ipod today, and I must say I'm pretty impressed. It also brought me back to the idea of the Hockeyleaks crew doing a radio broadcast once a week, something in the form of an audio download/podcast. I'd love to hear feedback on this idea, so if it something you'd be interested in listening to, contact me at cjohnson202@hockeyleaks.com.
Thats all for now, have a good night.
