Late last week, Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke made it clear that his team would not be pushed around this upcoming season. Based on his first moves this offseason, he wasn't kidding. After signing tough-guy Colton Orr to a four-year, $4 million deal earlier on Wednesday, the Leafs sent defenseman Pavel Kubina, and the rights to Tim Stapleton, to the Atlanta Thrashers for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart.
On the surface, it's a woefully lopsided trade in favor of Atlanta, and nothing more than a salary dump for Toronto.
The plus side? Just moments after the deal was made, word surfaced that defenseman Mike Komisarek had signed with the Maple Leafs.
It's not uncommon for sports teams, at any level, to model other successful teams in an effort to become successful themselves. Hey, if it's good enough for them, it should be good enough for us, right? Sure. Just don't expect Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke to follow another team's example unless it involves fighting and blood! OK, maybe not blood, but definitely fighting.
After the Penguins and Red Wings met in the Stanley Cup final for the second consecutive season (and not doing much fighting along the way) Burke, entering his first offseason in charge of the Maple Leafs, was quite candid when discussing the future makeup of his team.
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division.
Brian Burke begins his rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa and just what is Boston going to do with Phil Kessel and a limited amount of salary cap space?
While the NHL is sure to welcome any and all new or returning fans, they're not out implicitly begging for them. As much as the league would love to get more coverage from mainstream media outlets, they understand that they hold little control over such matters.
However, the league had to smile a bit Monday, when a well-known sports columnist (one who didn't ever hide his changed feelings about hockey) made it clear he was back on the bandwagon.
Toronto Maple Leafs grand poobah Brian Burke is not wasting time. He hopes it doesn't end up looking like he's wasting money.
Earlier this week, Burke signed Notre Dame star Christian Hanson, who is likely to make his NHL debut Friday at Philadelphia. He's back at it, this time grabbing a player regarded as the top underclassman free agent in college hockey. University of Denver sophomore Tyler Bozak missed a good chunk of the 2008-2009 season with a bad knee, but he had already established himself as a hot commodity on the open market. When the Pioneers' season ended last week, the calls started coming in.
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Rangers 3, Devils 0: Rangers forward Sean Avery is excellent at his job. His job, of course, is to cause as much chaos as humanly possible, and be a disruptive thorn in the side of any player lining up across from him on a given night. His particular brand of hell was on display in the Rangers' 3-0 win over New Jersey on Monday night. Video evidence after the jump.
Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like the American job market pretty much everything these days. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.
One of the most popular trends in the blogosphere over the last few months has been the creation of fake Twitter accounts. From Brian Burke to Rick Reilly and tons of people in between, they have been popping up all over the place.
Twitter is a unique site in that, as long as they are parodies, fake accounts are not prohibited by their terms of service. Of course, they still reserve the right to censor accounts as they please -- hooray internet communism! -- but for the most part, they let these fake accounts be. Today, we'll take a look at some of the best that in fake Twitters that the NHL has to offer.
Sabres 5, Canadiens 1:Patrick Lalime faced 39 shots on Wednesday night and turned aside all but one in Buffalo's 5-1 thrashing of Montreal. Derek Roy and Paul Gausted each scored a pair of goals for the Sabres, as they raced out to a commanding 5-0 lead.
Lalime weathered the storm in the first period, turning aside 18 Montreal shots, until Roy started the party for Buffalo netting a power play goal at the 17:53 mark of the period.
Islanders 4, Avalanche 2: Monday night was the worst case scenario for the Versus "game of the week." The only game on the NHL's schedule featured the worst team in the Western Conference, the Colorado Avalanche, taking on the worst team in the NHL, the New York Islanders.
Combine two disappointing teams with the fact New York is under a foot of snow, and you had two bad teams playing in front of about 14,000 empty seats. Oh, and the Islanders won, 4-2.
The Boston Bruins are currently the best team in the NHL, and with the trade deadline less than 72 hours away, they're apparently looking to make a blockbuster deal to solidify their status as the odds on Stanley Cup favorite.
On Saturday, a report surfaced that the Bruins were close to a deal for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger. On Sunday, the rumors continued as the Boston Herald reported the Bruins made an offer for Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle. NESN picked up on this rumor and called it a "monster" offer.
Late last week, Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke made it clear that his team would not be pushed around this upcoming season. Based on his first moves this offseason, he wasn't kidding. After signing tough-guy Colton Orr to a four-year, $4 million deal earlier on Wednesday, the Leafs sent defenseman Pavel Kubina, and the rights to Tim Stapleton, to the Atlanta Thrashers for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart. 
It's not uncommon for sports teams, at any level, to model other successful teams in an effort to become successful themselves. Hey, if it's good enough for them, it should be good enough for us, right? Sure. Just don't expect Toronto Maple Leafs general manager 
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division. 
While the NHL is sure to welcome any and all new or returning fans, they're not out implicitly begging for them. As much as the league would love to get more coverage from mainstream media outlets, they understand that they hold little control over such matters.
Toronto Maple Leafs grand poobah 
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like 
The Boston Bruins are currently the best team in the NHL, and with the trade deadline less than 72 hours away, they're apparently looking to make a blockbuster deal to solidify their status as the odds on Stanley Cup favorite. 
