FanHouse ChrisHiggins

Give Rangers general manager Glen Sather credit; he found somebody to take on one of the team's ugly contracts when he sent Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens for Chris Higgins, Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko on Tuesday afternoon. Gomez, 29, signed a seven-year, $51 million deal with the Rangers prior to the 2007-08 season, and the signing proved to be a mistake from the very beginning.

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?

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins faced off in the first round of the playoffs and Michael Ryder helped the Habs win the series in seven. This year, Ryder is a Bruin and is doing damage to his former team.

Through three playoff games, Ryder has four points including the decisive goal tonight in Game 3. His goal was the third of four the Bruins used to defeat the Habs 4-2 tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal. They have now taken a commanding 3-0 series lead, putting the Habs up against the wall for Wednesday's Game 4.

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A quick recap of yesterday's action from around the National Hockey League.

Today's post will be primarily dedicated to that epic Stanley Cup Finals rematch in Motown because, well, that's the type of game the NHL should be dreaming about. The Penguins overcame third period deficits of 5-2 and 6-4 as they won their fourth in a row, 7-6. It won't make up for a Stanley Cup Finals defeat, obviously, but man, it still feels good.

For the first 45 minutes or so, the Red Wings were doing to the Penguins what they did during last season's Finals ... frustrating them and, at times, dominating play with a relentless puck-possession game, refusing to give the Penguins an inch of space. When Henrik Zetterberg floated that shot behind Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 5-2 with just over ten minutes to play, it seemed as if there was no chance for the Penguins to mount any sort of come back.

Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, something clicked for the Penguins as they out-shot the Red Wings 13-5 over the final ten minutes of regulation, and 4-0 in overtime.

The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
-- Wallace Stevens

With apologies to the great Wallace Stevens and one of my very favorite poems in the English Language (not like I know any other, languages that is, not poems) I guess Marc Crawford allowed himself to become consumed with his own sense of self-importance to be the fatuous and disconnected Imperial presence that refused to accept responsibility for the violence he unleashed when he made it a point to demand that Steve Moore pay for his perceived crime. Thankfully they didn't have to spread a sweaty towel over his face that night.

In the NHL, I guess he's the Emperor of Hair Jelly.