FanHouse BrendanWitt

Derek Boogaard has two career NHL goals. It's not like Wild coach Jacques Lemaire uses him for his skill. Boogaard is on the ice to protect the Minnesota Wild's skill guys, and he's there to be a physical presence.

He took that role a bit too far on Friday night. Boogaard used his huge elbow as a weapon, sending Calgary Flame Brandon Prust crumpling to the ice. The hit has earned Boogaard a five-game ban.

On Thursday night, New York Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt was handed a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct for elbowing Maple Leafs forward Niklas Hagman.

On Friday, the NHL reacted by suspending Witt for five games. According to NHL.com, the suspension will cost him $74,372.75 in salary. His first game back from the suspension is scheduled to be March 10 ... against Toronto.

Devils 4, Avalanche 0: After missing most of the season with an elbow injury, legendary goalie Martin Brodeur returned to the New Jersey lineup on Thursday and did not disappoint, posting the 99th shutout of his career in a 4-0 win over Colorado.

Brodeur turned aside all 24 shots he faced, while Jamie Langenbrunner, Zach Parise, Patrick Elias and Travis Zajac all scored goals in the win. The Devils have been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference all season, and adding one of the best goaltenders of all-time back into the lineup makes them a dangerous team going forward.

At the 2:21 mark of the third period during Thursday's Islanders-Maple Leafs game, Brendan Witt delivered a vicious elbow to the head of Toronto's Niklas Hagman.



It's obvious that Hagman had absolutely no idea where he was following the hit, as he stumbled off the ice in a rather scary manner. Witt received a five-minute major, as well as a 10-minute game misconduct for elbowing.

The Clash once posed the question: Should I stay or should I go now? We take a look at the big names surrounding the NHL trade deadline and whether they'll be staying in place or going to finish the season in another city.

It's no secret that the New York Islanders are going to be sellers at the trade deadline. They've already shipped out Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli and, one would assume, they would be trying to send more veterans packing between now and March 4th in the hopes of bringing back draft picks or youth. Among those veterans is captain Bill Guerin and, as the Islanders have been decimated by injuries, he may be one of their only veteran bargaining chips left.

See that? That is Long Island's newest whipping boy, Andy Hilbert, somehow missing a point blank chance on an empty net during the third period of last night's game against the arch-rival New York Rangers. If he had managed to get the puck in the net, and not his stick, he would have tied the game. Instead, the Islanders could not find the tying goal and the Rangers tacked on one more to win the game, 4-2. This image is not the reason for the ranting and raving that you are about to read, it is simply the icing on the cake for Hilbert-haters on Long Island.

Hilbert has two points all season for the Islanders, despite playing in each of the team's 23 games. Two points. For a winger who is not an enforcer and is supposed to score, those numbers are simply mind boggling. He has, how do you say, as many points as six NHL goaltenders, including teammate Rick DiPietro. Yes, Hilbert has the offensive talent of a goaltender. For the sake of emphasis, it should also be noted that he has as many points as goon Chris Simon and fewer points than offensively-challenged blue liners Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt.

How did this all go so horribly wrong?

As Corey Masisack of the Washington Times wrote earlier today -- and welcome to the blogosphere Corey -- the first day of NHL training camps don't have much to do with pucks and sticks, unless of course, that means giving yourself a sore wrist from all of the stuff you've got to sign:

There is no practice for the players today but plenty off-ice work to be taken care of. There are plenty of pictures to be taken, physicals to be passed and lots and lots and lots of stuff to autograph.

All of the equipment that needs a John Hancock (or 20) is laid out on tables or up against the outside the rink. There will be stuff to sign all season, but there is an abnormally large amount today. Not everyone signs everything, but some of the numbers include 18 dozen sticks (four dozen will be signed by everyone), 750 pucks and 59 of the team's brand-spanking new jerseys.

So don't expect much real news until we get a couple of days into camp. Until then, there's always some great horseplay to pass along, like this shot of New York Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt having some fun with Getty Images photographer Bruce Bennett.

Then again, I wonder if Witt really understands what he's doing here. Because he has his tongue stuck out, my first reaction is that he's trying to ape heavy metal stars who would often use a sign like this to represent the horns of the Devil. Unfortunately, when you extend the thumb like Witt does in this photograph, what he's really doing is signing "I love you" backwards in American Sign Language.

Note to self: Tell Islanders head coach Ted Nolan Witt needs class in remedial ASL. Thanks to The View from Section 317 for the inspiration.