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Hockey fans in Atlanta have known nothing but losing and front office incompetence since the Thrashers joined the NHL a decade ago. Even the best season in franchise history, the 2006-07 campaign that saw the Thrashers qualify for their first and only playoff appearance, ended in disappointment as they were quickly swept under the rug in four games by the New York Rangers.

In the two seasons following that trip to the postseason, the Thrashers have returned to their sub-80-point ways, toiling at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Thanks to a couple of shrewd moves at the start of the offseason, and some returning young talent, this year's version of the Thrashers looks like it has a chance to make some noise.

The Detroit Red Wings are getting ready to take on the Anaheim Ducks Sunday evening with their Western Conference semifinal series tied at two. They're likely going to be without forward Tomas Kopecky who is looking at the possibility of surgery following his one-sided (not Kopecky's side) fight with Francois Beauchemin on Thursday night.

Thrashers 5, Capitals 1: Break up the Thrashers. Thanks to its 5-1 drubbing of Washington on Monday, Atlanta has now won six in a row and seven of its past eight, as Kari Lehtonen turned aside an incredible 49 shots to lead the Thrashers. He was 1:15 away from registering his fourth shutout of the season, as Washington's Keith Aucoin finally broke through with his first goal of the season.

On the opposite end of the rink, Washington's Jose Theodore was mercifully yanked after giving up four goals on 19 shots, while the Thrashers converted on three of their four power play attempts -- without the services of Ilya Kovalchuk. Colby Armstrong, Slava Kozlov, Anssi Salmela, Tobias Enstrom and Eric Perrin all scored for Atlanta, while Salmela's goal was the first of his career.

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.

A couple of weeks ago, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller came to the conclusion that in order for the Pittsburgh Penguins to remain competitive in the NHL, they would have to deal the league's leading scorer, Evgeni Malkin, for a first-line winger, a No. 2 center, and "hopefully" a pick or a prospect. It was a laughable proposal.

On Sunday night, Rob Rossi, Penguins beat writer for the Tribune-Review, appeared on a weekly Pittsburgh talk show and suggested the team would be wise to put Sidney Crosby on the trade block this offseason. I guess this is what happens when you go from being two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup to being the No. 10 team in the Eastern Conference in a matter of one season.

It was reported earlier this week that Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen Tomas Kaberle and Pavel Kubina were going to give management a list of teams they would be willing to accept a trade to. Trouble is, one of those guys may not even be on the market if we're to believe general manager Brian Burke.

Burke was quoted in Tuesday's Toronto Star as saying, "I like this guy, bet on him staying," in regards to Kaberle.

The Atlanta Thrashers currently occupy the No. 14 spot in the Eastern Conference, 17 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the final playoff spot. Needless to say, it appears as if the Thrashers are destined to miss the postseason for the eighth time in their nine-year existence.

When you combine yet another dismal season with the fact star forward Ilya Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent following the 2009-10 season, it's only natural to piece together trade rumors. Rumors the Thrashers have no interest in.

On Saturday night, TSN hockey analyst Gord Miller became the latest person to jump on the Pittsburgh is doomed because it has too much cap money tied up in too few players(!) bandwagon.

According to Miller, the Penguins can't compete with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin making as much money as they do, because it forces the Penguins to surround them with bargain basement players. This is apparently because Ray Shero couldn't get his star players to sign cap friendly contracts like Ken Holland did in Detroit. Because of this, the Penguins must (his opinion, not mine) trade Malkin.

Entering this season, expectations around the Pittsburgh Penguins were at an all-time high, or, if nothing else, as high as they've been since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr were suiting up for the team. Here we are in the middle of January, and the Penguins are closer to getting John Tavares or Victor Hedman in this summer's draft than they are to getting the top spot in the Eastern Conference. That's a problem.

To say the team is falling shot of expectations would be a disservice to understatements everywhere. Simply put, this team stinks right now.

Naturally, when a team struggles, everyone looks to make any and all changes to right the ship, and it usually begins an ends with the man behind the bench, in this case, head coach Michel Therrien.

Earlier this week I referenced a one-punch fight between Pittsburgh's Ruslan Fedotenko and Atlanta's Colby Armstrong. As you can see in the video shown above, it was nothing more than Fedotenko hitting Armstrong in the jaw, followed quickly by Armstrong hittting the ice. If this were a boxing match, it would be an easy TKO in favor of Fedotenko. The problem is, it came with a heavy, heavy price for the Penguins, as he's now going to miss four-to-six weeks with a broken hand. I guess Armstrong's jaw is that strong.

It's actually kind of funny -- though, not in a knee-slapping, ha-ha kind of way -- because in October and November, Penguins fans were looking for ways to keep Fedotenko out of the lineup for weeks at a time, mainly because he was playing terrible hockey. What a difference a few months makes, as this is actually a pretty big loss for the Penguins. He's been one of their best fowards the past couple of weeks, registering 13 points in his past 17 games. He also appeared to be developing some decent chemistry with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora on the team's second line.

For a team that's already lacking capable wingers -- or anything that resembles a winger -- this hurts. Chris Minard has been called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take his place.