With NHL general managers getting together this week to discuss possible rule changes, and talk about changing the rules on fighting getting some mainstream media attention (including a rare lengthy discussion on ESPN Radio this morning), a deeper discussion will take place regarding the league's standings.
Ever since the NHL introduced the rule of giving a point to the loser in overtime (and, later, a shootout), there has been talk about the inequity of some games being worth two points while others are worth three. It's led to some bizarre moments, including one that comes to mind in which Buffalo celebrated clinching a playoff spot with an overtime point -- before the extra session began. But should the NHL overhaul its system completely?
The trade deadline comes and goes with a lot less action than most people expected, as some of the biggest names bandied out there ended up staying with their current teams. The biggest mover is the Flames, who pick up Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold to put pressure on the Sharks and Wings in the West, while the Rangers try to turn around their slide down the Eastern standings with a couple of bold moves including adding Nik Antropov from Toronto.
Check out how each team's actions changed this week's power rankings, and what teams got a hit -- and who missed -- at the deadline.
With the Capitals mired in a two-game slump following a 5-2 thumping at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night, the news didn't get any better for the Southeast Division leaders in their practice Wednesday morning.
According to the Washington Post, the NHL's leading goal-getter, Alexander Ovechkin, was hit in the foot by a slap shot and smashed a couple of sticks in frustration on his way to get medical attention.
UPDATE: The Fox Sports Detroit crew reports that Marian Hossa is still in the hospital, but tests so far have been negative. Breathe a little easier, Wings fans. - 10:50 PM
The Red Wings got a huge scare Tuesday night in St. Louis when Hossa, back in the lineup after missing two games with a neck injury, went head-first into the boards after losing his balance following a check. Hossa was taken off the ice on a stretcher.
The Eastern Conference's top two teams met for the final time in the regular season Saturday in Boston, and if the two teams end up meeting down the road in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it should prove to be a very entertaining series.
In a game that featured a bit of style, grit, a flashback to the last meeting of the two teams a little over a month ago and a very strange-looking game-winner, the Capitals beat the Bruins 4-3 in overtime on a 70-foot Alex Semin slapshot that snuck past Tim Thomas.
A lot was made out of Alex Ovechkin's on-ice battle with Sidney Crosby during the Capitals' 5-2 win over the Penguins on Sunday, with the two stars engaging in a war of words afterwards.
Well, Ovechkin wasn't the only Russian taking a pot shot at the Penguins' superstar this week, as Thrashers sniper (and one of Ovechkin's friends) Ilya Kovalchuk weighed in on the whole controversy, dismissing Crosby's complaints about Ovechkin's physical style of play during the game.
After using February as a chance to see what last-minute fixes need to be made before this Wednesday's trade deadline, not a lot has been decided in the playoff chases, with the East and West both featuring ridiculously little margin for error for some teams. All of this means many teams will have some very tough choices to make, and the few teams that are out of the playoff chase are getting a chance to receive a king's ransom for their assets.
Check out what team's back up on top of the latest power rankings, and what you might want to look for as the hours wind down for teams to make one final push towards the playoffs.
With the economy in the tank and newspapers taking the hit hard, perhaps it's not surprising that it's come to this, but the news still is jarring to have one NHL club without a traveling beat writer for the remainder of the season - and perhaps even the playoffs.
According to Canes Country, the Raleigh News & Observer has stopped sending its beat writer Chip Alexander on the road with the Hurricanes. Due to severe budget constraints thanks to a plummeting stock price of parent company McClatchy Newspapers and a big round of layoffs at the paper itself, assistant sports editor Steve Ruinsky told the blog it might not even be sending him to away games even if Carolina qualifies for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
When Martin Brodeur went down with an elbow injury back in November, a lot of pundits thought it would pretty much doom the Devils' season and the team's playoff hopes were put on life support without the future Hall-of-Fame netminder in the crease for an extended period of time.
Didn't quite turn out to be the case.
Now, just seven wins short of Patrick Roy's all-time wins mark and with 22 games to play in the regular season, Brodeur confirmed after Devils practice today he will get his first start in over three months against Roy's old team, the Avalanche, Thursday night in Newark.
In a sad and strange coincidence, two recreational league hockey players collapsed on the ice and died within hours of each other in two separate incidents in the same San Jose facility on the same night.
The two men were both part of an adult league at Shark Ice, a facility that is the practice home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks, but this past Sunday, like in many rinks across North America, adult players took to the ice to enjoy a chance to play the game.
With NHL general managers getting together this week to discuss possible rule changes, and talk about changing the rules on fighting getting some mainstream media attention (including a rare lengthy discussion on ESPN Radio this morning), a deeper discussion will take place regarding the league's standings.
The trade deadline comes and goes with a lot less action than most people expected, as some of the biggest names bandied out there ended up staying with their current teams. The biggest mover is the Flames, who pick up Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold to put pressure on the Sharks and Wings in the West, while the Rangers try to turn around their slide down the Eastern standings with a couple of bold moves including adding Nik Antropov from Toronto.
With the Capitals mired in a two-game slump following a 5-2 thumping at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night, the news didn't get any better for the Southeast Division leaders in their practice Wednesday morning.
The Eastern Conference's top two teams met for the final time in the regular season Saturday in Boston, and if the two teams end up meeting down the road in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it should prove to be a very entertaining series.
A lot was made out of Alex Ovechkin's on-ice battle with Sidney Crosby during the Capitals' 5-2 win over the Penguins on Sunday, with the two stars 
After using February as a chance to see what last-minute fixes need to be made before this Wednesday's trade deadline, not a lot has been decided in the playoff chases, with the East and West both featuring ridiculously little margin for error for some teams. All of this means many teams will have some very tough choices to make, and the few teams that are out of the playoff chase are getting a chance to receive a king's ransom for their assets.
With the economy in the tank and newspapers taking the hit hard, perhaps it's not surprising that it's come to this, but the news still is jarring to have one NHL club without a traveling beat writer for the remainder of the season - and perhaps even the playoffs.
When Martin Brodeur went down with an elbow injury back in November, a lot of pundits thought it would pretty much doom the Devils' season and the team's playoff hopes were put on life support without the future Hall-of-Fame netminder in the crease for an extended period of time.
In a 
