FanHouse BradMay

Outside of a minor trade for tough-guy Brad May, Brian Burke's first three months as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs have been rather uneventful.

On Monday afternoon, Burke appeared on Toronto's AM 640 and discussed the teams plans for its upcoming unrestricted free agents, including forwards Dominic Moore and Nik Antropov.

Brian Burke's acquisition of tough-guy Brad May helped add to some of the intensity and entertainment value in Thursday's Montreal-Toronto game, as the two teams beat the snot out of one other physically, while the Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard, pulling out a 6-2 win. The victory for Montreal is its third in a row, and eighth in its past 10 games.

We've already talked about the penalties and wrestling matches between Mikhail Grabovski and a linesman, so let's talk about the game itself. The Canadiens jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, thanks to goals from Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse. Jaroslav Halak, making his fourth straight start in goal for Montreal, turned aside 30 shots to pick up his eighth win of the season.

Bruins 6, Senators 4: Boston snapped a brief two-game losing skid on Thursday night with a 6-4 win over Ottawa. The Bruins let a 3-1 lead slip away late in the second period, and then scored three consecutive goals of their own in the third, as Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber had a rather forgettable start in goal, stopping only 16 of 21 shots. Marc Savard scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, while also adding two assists.

Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.

Brian Burke's first few weeks as general manager in Toronto have been rather uneventful, and I, for one, have been patiently waiting to see what Burke is going to do to re-shape the Maple Leafs roster. On Wednesday, he made his first move by acquiring Brad May from the Ducks -- his former employer -- for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2010.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but, May brings some grit and tenacity to a Leafs lineup that has been lacking, well, grit and tenacity. May had been losing ice-time in Anahiem and will be a free agent after the season, so from his point of view it's probably a good move, seeing as how he's likely to get quite a boost in playing time.

Still, it's a bit odd to see the Leafs give up a pick -- even if it's a conditional pick -- for a free-agent-to-be when they're an unlikely bet to make the playoffs. Unless Burke is simply tired of seeing this particular team get pushed around (and speared) without anyone doing anything about it.

Anyway, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Burke acquired the 37-year old May at some point, seeing as how this is the third time he's done so in his career.

He had no goals and five assists in 20 games for the Ducks this year, while averaging six minutes of ice-time per night.

An NHL Head Coach wouldn't be doing their job if they weren't whining about the officiating, given that it's their job to help absolve their players of responsibility. Since the refs can't respond, they are a very easy target.

Still, one wonders exactly how refs must feel when a coach calls them out for 'unfair treatment'. Wouldn't you expect the refs to pay an extra bit of attention to that coach's team? Perhaps not, but it doesn't help that Ducks' coach Randy Carlyle is whining about 'unfair treatment'.

The Ducks, who lead the NHL with 654 penalty minutes, further enhanced their reputation as an undisciplined team by taking 12 more penalties in Monday night's 4-3 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"For whatever reason, we seem to be found guilty more often than the opposition that we play and we don't feel that we commit the same amount of crimes," Carlyle said

Yes, Randy, I'm sure the refs get together before the game and scheme, "We gotta get them Ducks and call lots of penalties against them!".

The Ducks play an extremely physical/thuggish style of game. When you have a roster that includes Brad May, Chris Pronger, Ryan Getzlaf, Travis Moen, George Parros, Shane Hnidy, Todd Bertuzzi, and Corey Perry, you should expect to be shorthanded more often than the opposition.

For Carlyle to sit there and cry about officiating indicates that he fails to see that his group of players is all about the crashing and bashing, and that the coach is responsible for the style of play the Ducks bring to the rink on a nightly basis. If you are going to play with fire, expect to get burnt once in awhile. Instead of crying like Britney Spears on a badly-shot home video, how about telling your players to smarten the hell up, huh?

It seems that the Ottawa Senators have apparently been eating too much Duck L'Orange and have waddled around the ice like they have had too much fowl to eat on Thanksgiving.

How else can you explain the sleepy stupor of which the Senators appear to caught in?

Well, speaking of food, one Ottawa area casino has jumped into the spirit of the Stanley Cup finals and has devised a special dish in tribute of Daniel Alfredsson ...

The Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa, has devised a culinary tribute to the Senators caption Daniel Alfredsson: the Alfie Burger.

The "bison burger with smoked duck, California yellow tomatoes, Monterrey Jack cheese and caramelized Pittsburgh onions, served with New Jersey-style fries" was designed to help the team "take down the Ducks as quickly as they dispatched the other teams."

Well, it doesn't appear to be working now, does it?. Perhaps this one dish just isn't enough? How about some other Duck-inspired culinary delights?

Pronger Steak - This expensive steak is BIG, tough, hard to find, and super delicious. The only downside is that it leaves a very nasty feeling once it leaves your system.

Brad May Crunch - This gritty cereal is guaranteed to leave you with a few missing teeth.

Giguere Marshmallow Mountain - This puffy dessert is HUGE, and will add a few notches to your belt in no time.

Sean O'Donnell Rice - White rice with a dash of salt. It's boring and generic, but it gets the job done in a pinch.

Scotty's Scotch - Another rare delicacy, this expensive scotch has a smooth, silky, smoky finish. This drink must be accompanied by Rob's Rum, a heavy, bitter, blue-collar drink that really isn't worth the price.

(Photo Credit: Jim Henson Productions)