FanHouse Canucks

Darren Dreger of TSN reported today that the Tampa Bay Lightning have alerted center Brad Richards they're trying to deal him. Richards has given management a list of teams for which he'd be willing to waive his NTC; GM Jay Feaster will take the offers he's received -- allegedly from Vancouver, Columbus and Dallas -- to ownership, and a former Conn Smythe winner making $7.8 million per season until 2011 could be gonzo by the trade deadline.

If you go by the hockey rumoristas, Richards has been on the block longer than a septuagenarian prostitute. But this time could be different, if Dreger's on point with this line from his TSN.ca piece: "Tampa Bay's incoming owner Oren Koules is said to be heavily involved." Koules has taken over a losing team with the gross national product of Guyana tied up into three players; snipping a valuable but under-performing Richards would, I imagine, be something he might be interested in.

There are several teams rumored to be in the hunt for Richards. But would he improve any of them in the short term or the long run?

Over the next 48 hours, Peter Forsberg will decide which NHL team will have the honor of giving his bum wheel a two-year contract. Or he'll decide to remain in Europe because he isn't healthy enough for Stanley Cup Playoff-level competition. Either way, this farcical season-long tease could finally be coming to an end; I only hope the Swedish postal service commemorates it with a stamp that depicts an indecisive Forsberg holding a Flyers jersey in one hand and a hospital chart in the other.

After eliminating some teams from the derby recently, the field for Forsberg's services has been thinned. The suddenly slumping -- but rapidly healing -- Avalanche are still waiting to hear from him. Dave Nonis told HNIC over the weekend that he believes the Canucks haven't been eliminated from the competition. One late addition to the mix has been the Chicago Blackhawks, who Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune said may be offering a three-year commitment to the Indian that would certainly intrigue Forsberg and his agent.

But the front-runners have always been the Philadelphia Flyers, who have a sense of urgency thanks to an inexplicable seven-game tailspin. The question is whether Forsberg is the right fix -- or whether joining another team might give him a better shot at more hardware.

When it comes to awards, the NHL basically has things covered. Nothing your friendly neighborhood FanHouse puckheads might develop could possibly rival the historic significance of the Lady Byng Trophy or the functionality of the William M. Jennings Trophy, which doubles as a delightful chili con queso bowl. But we can try, dammit. Here's four of the eight categories in our lusty gaze at 2007 in the review mirror (sans Mirtle, who decided to check out on life to concentrate on the true meaning of Boxing Day this holiday season.)

NHL Man of the Year

JP: Brian Burke. Wins a Cup, lets MacT overpay for Penner (while adding some great drama to the whole situation), only has to pay for half a year of Niedermayer but still finds himself just a stone's throw from first place in the division (granted, that's 8th place in the Conference). You may not like the way the game behind the game is played, but Burke sure is playing it. Oh, and he secured Edmonton's first pick in the upcoming draft as part of the Penner compensation, and that could very well be the #1 overall pick (i.e. Stamkos).

Earl Sleek: I'd guess Crosby is the man, but I could see a case for Pronger (has anyone been robbed of two Conn Smythes in a row?) or even Sammy Pahlsson -- that guy killed this year, though in a very non-celebratory way.

Kevin Schultz: After some dirty hits in the playoffs, I can't see Pronger getting MOTY.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Maple Grief
When I turned on the television this morning, BBC America was showing highlights from Carolina's 7-1 humbling of the Maple Leafs in Toronto last night. My first thought, obviously, was that Gary Bettman's plan for UK media domination had worked to perfection. My second thought was that when the Leafs are trounced on home ice by a Southeast Division team that has seven different players score a goal, that qualifies as an international incident worthy of world media attention. As Bill Lankoff of SLAM Sports noted, it was the worst home defeat of Coach Paul Maurice's tenure with the Leafs:

That it came against his former team likely made it hurt a little bit more. But, reality is that after all the talk by the Leafs about having each other's backs, all they did was stick in the knife and twist last night.

The only faint pulses on an otherwise comatose night came from Mats Sundin, who tied Darryl Sittler for the most points in franchise history (916) with a first-period assist, and the reaction to Jason Blake, making his first start after revealing that he's battling chronic myelogenous leukemia. If this 7-1 thrashing is evidence of the team being affected by that emotional admission on Monday, this might be the most distracting locker room cancer since Claude Lemieux.

(After the jump: The NHL Store opens in New York, The Marc Chouinard Award, The NHL finally goes HD where it counts and Tonight's Games You Should Be Watching.)

A group of Canucks fans have banded together to create luck for their team by growing playoff ... moustaches. I guess playoff beards aren't working too well anymore given that almost everyone is doing them!

Lessee here ... if they do bring luck, but everyone does it, does that mean everyone gets equal amounts of luck for their team? Do teams and/or players get deductions for wearing just goatees?

So, according to ringleaders Jared Cotterill and Mark Curran, "The beards have never worked, so might as well try something new."

Every year, the pair and their friends try something to help the Canucks win. Last year they did the bears but "Moustaches are way grosser and therefore should have more power with the hockey gods," said Cotterill.

They've even started a website called "Canucks playoff moustache support group" at www.facebook.com that anyone can join. "Guys 25 years old walking around with moustaches is a pretty funny thing to do," said Curran.

"So we wanted to get the support of everybody in Vancouver and when they see us, they'll know these guys are doing it for the Canucks."

Well, anything to help the team! Perhaps the Canucks should all grow moustaches themselves.... If wearing a 'stache helps Alexandre Burrows score, he'll probably never shave it off!

My girlfriend, however, wonders how the ladies can help out the team. Are they supposed to not shave their legs instead? *shudder* Perish the thought!

Well, I intend to join in on the bandwagon and grow a playoff moustache. Maybe some day, I'll look like Harold Snepsts, too, or at least like John Holmes. That would rock!

After Anson "Tarantula Head" Carter had a boffo welcome-back party after playing with the Sedin twins (33 goals in 81 games) last season, he got greedy and expected a big pay day on the open market.

Unfortunately for Anson, teams weren't buying the fact that he was a bonafide scorer any longer, and balked at his asking price of $3mil/year for 3 years.

Carter had to settle with a 1-year deal from the Columbus Blue Jackets ($2.5million), and has been showing just why teams weren't willing to sign him, as he's struggled to put up meager offensive totals (28 points in 65 games). Nobody was buying that Anson Carter was suddenly one of the league's better goal scorers.

Is the lanky Taylor Pyatt going to possibly make the same mistake?

CKNW in Vancouver is reporting that the Canucks made a two-year, $2.4 million offer to Pyatt, and were subsequently told it would not be enough to retain the services of the 21-goal scorer. The Pyatt camp is apparently looking for a deal in the Matt Cooke range. Cooke, who has just eight goals, makes $1.5 million per season.

According to reports, Pyatt is also looking for a three-year deal.

While Taylor has been a solid citizen for the Canucks this year with 21 goals and 14 assists in 72 games, much of his offensive output can be attributed to playing beside the cycling Sedinbots. Hopefully, Pyatt and his agent won't start being blinded by the dollar signs, and will come to a reasonable agreement with the Canucks.

I, and many other Canucks fans, could easily live with $1.5mil/year for 3 seasons, given how the well-paid Matt Cooke has done very little to justify such a salary.