The defending champs claim the top spot in this week's power rankings, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes make jumps of their own as they look to earn playoff berths in their respective conferences.
There's also a new team taking over the basement, thanks to a pair of blowout losses on home ice in the past week.
We're in the home stretch of the NHL season, and both conference playoff races are heating up as the standings change on a daily basis. The Eastern Conference has seven teams separated by just seven points in the No's 4 through 10 spots, while everybody except Phoenix and Colorado is still competing for a playoff spot in the West.
The Boston Bruins won their ninth straight game on Tuesday night, picking up a 5-2 victory in Pittsburgh. Aside from winning nine in a row, the Bruins finish the month of December with a 12-1 record, while extending their lead in the Eastern Conference to nine points over the No. 2 team, the New York Rangers Washington Capitals.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice, the month of December can't end soon enough for the Penguins, as they went 5-9 for the month, including four consecutive losses on home ice. Even worse, Pittsburgh has posted a 2-7 record in its past nine games at Mellon Arena. That's not good. Look, I realize the Penguins have been slow starters the past two seasons before kicking it in gear in February and March, but can you keep relying on that? Might make it a little easier on yourself to actually win some games in October, November and December because, you know, those games count too.
As for this game, Boston received a stellar effort in net from Tim Thomas as he turned aside 32-of-34 shots, while Phil Kessel, Dennis Wideman, Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara and Martin St. Pierre provided the offense. The Bruins went 2-for-8 on the power play, and scored a shorthanded goal on a 3-on-1 break in the third period, pretty much taking Pittsburgh out of the game. I think that speaks volumes about the Penguins power play when they allowed a 3-on-1 rush with the man advantage.
Highlight of the night for Pittsburgh was Tim Wallace, a recent callup from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, who squared off against Milan Lucic and actually held his own for a while, before getting dropped by Lucic. The two teams meet again on Thursday, in Boston.
If yesterday's talk of adding another team in Toronto wasn't wacky enough for you (even though it is feasible), then you were in luck -- things just kept getting wackier in the city. There was only one game going on in Toronto, but the Maple Leafs and Ducks still managed to have a couple Bizarro World-type moments. And I'm not talking about things like "oh the puck took some odd bounces." No, these moments were more along the lines of why sports are so unique. Every time you go to an arena or watch a game on TV, there's the chance you will see something that you have never seen before or at the very least you may view a rare feat. There were a pair of odd plays in this game, the first of which will be second guessed endlessly.
The game was a rare visit to Ontario for the Ducks Formerly Known as Mighty. The teams were tied through overtime and headed to a shootout when Ron Wilson pulled the unorthodox and, to my knowledge, never before tried strategy of putting in his backup for the skills competition. Yup, despite Vesa Toskala stopping 19 of 21 shots he faced during regulation and overtime, Wilson called upon Curtis Joseph to face the Ducks in a shootout. From the moment CuJo stepped on the ice you knew this was going to be one of those coaching moves that could only look good if it worked.
The bad news for Wilson and the Leafs was that his decision worked out about as poorly as it possibly could have.
There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN.
Jose Theodore to the Capitals- It's a two-year, $9 million deal and Eric's got the details below. Theodore did seem to regain some of his form this past year with the Avalanche, but he melted down in the playoffs against the Red Wings while suffering from a bad case of the flu. He'll probably give the Caps an upgrade over what Olie the Goalie was giving them earlier in the year, but he won't carry them the way Huet did down the stretch last year. And $4.5 million seems like a lot of money for a guy that just might be washed up, doesn't it?
Cristobal Huet to the Blackhawks- With a ton of moneyalready tied up in Nikolai Khabibulin (~$7 million a year), the 'Hawks are now paying Huet $5.635 a year as well. Huet's an upgrade over what the Blackhawks have, for sure, but I'm trying to wrap my mind around paying more than $12 million a year for their top two goalies.
Many hopes and dreams will be realized when the NHL Entry Draft gets underway this Friday. Thousands of kids and young adults have been waiting for the day that some NHL team (even the Florida Panthers) calls their name and brings them down to put on their new sweater.
Not every talented hockey player, however, will hear their name called during the draft. Due to teams' prejudices (the player is too small!), a lack of scouting, or just a lack of skill, many kids will not be drafted by an NHL club, and their NHL dreams may be shattered in the process.
Being passed over in the draft, however, is hardly a death sentence. Teams are always looking for more talent, and a little perseverance and a lot of production in the lower tiers of hockey can go a long way for a non-drafted player.
Take Ed Belfour and Curtis Joseph. These gentlemen were two of the better goalies of our era, and were never drafted by any NHL club. Not even a sniff! If teams can miss the boat on two very adept netminders, you know they are passing over a lot of other quality players.
The list of undrafted NHLers is surprisingly large, and should give hope to any kid who doesn't get drafted this year.
As for Edmonton ... well, let's just say Oilers fans are treating this game and the balance of the team's schedule like a 30-game visit to the proctologist's office. Today's sunshine and rainbows came in the announcement that Shawn Horcoff will have season-ending shoulder surgery on Wednesday, sucking the team's leading scorer (50 points) off the roster. Pleasure Motors at Covered in Oil reacts, and reminds fellow Oilers fans of their ultimate insult to injury, which is that there isn't even a potential No. 1 overall draft pick in the silver lining:
Yep: Horcoff is done for the season. Here's hoping Cogliano or Gagner mounts a late-season bid for the Calder, because failing that, we're going to need the draft lottery to keep Steve Stamkos out of the hands of the Ducks. You people like curling? Because there's no way I'm paying attention to the Oilers for 30 more games.
Well, the old dog is back! The Calgary Flames, one of about four teams chasing after the old pup, have won the sweepstakes and signed the geezer to a contract. We're still awaiting the actual details, but it's assumed to be a deal simply for this season.
The other scuttlebutt floating around is Mike Keenan made a personal phone call to Joseph and apologized for being such a complete asshat back in their St. Louis days. I didn't think 'Iron' Mike was capable of a sincere apology. How about that?
While CuJo is hardly capable of providing quality goaltending at this stage of his career, he is an instant upgrade on Curtis McElhinney, a no-name backup goalie so awful that Mike Keenan would rather play with an empty net than give a start to the guy.
With Kiprusoff playing so horribly this season, and having started 45 of the 46 Flames' games, it's obvious that the Flames needed somebody that could give Kiprusoff some nights off. "Kipper" looks like a tired goalie and he's been unable to put together a consistent string of good starts.
While Joseph may not have the ability he once did, he'll have the confidence of Iron Mike, which is the most important reason for this signing. Getting Kiprusoff some rest down the stretch may very well help their #1 goalie get his groove back.
According to reports from TSN, 40 year old goaltender Curtis Joseph will likely make his decision this weekend on where he'd like to be when he rejoins the NHL.
It's come down to two teams: Calgary and San Jose. Both these franchises have strong starting goalies, yet lack quality backups, so they're very interested in acquiring the veteran.
Why Calgary? Well, can you name Calgary's backup netminder without having to look it up? Exactly. However, as The Bleacher Report duly points out, Joseph and Calgary coach Mike Keenan don't have the best history together. Is Joseph willing to put behind the past for a backup job? Has enough time passed?
As for San Jose? Well, Evgeni Nabokov has started EVERY SINGLE GAME this season so far, and it's obvious the Sharks are afraid to play anyone else. At least a veteran like Joseph would have the confidence of coach Ron Wilson.
Last season, CuJo had a rotten 89.3SV%, well below the league average (90.5%), and has gotten steadily worse each season. Only six goalies with 30+ games played last season has worse numbers than CuJo, and the old dog is not going to get any better. Why bring him in as an expensive backup when you can get a willing, and younger, backup for the league minimum?
His 89.3SV% would put him right in the same spot in the rankings (near the basement), which makes you wonder why a team would even bother signing him as a backup in the first place. Oh, you'll wonder, that is, until you look at those anonymous backup goalies the Sharks and Flames have been playing, and realize that, sadly, CuJo is an upgrade.
Looks like this old dog may have one last trick. It certainly won't make the Sharks and Flames much better to sign the guy, but it'll at least give them a chance to rest their #1 goaltenders more than once every three months.
Once upon a time, Curtis Joseph was one of the better goaltenders in the NHL. Ask any GM if he'd want CuJo as his #1 goalie, and you'd likely get an emphatic "Yes! Gimme gimme gimme!"
Well, as we all get older, our bodies just don't respond they way they used to, and it's harder to perform the way we like, with as much vigor and energy. *ahem*
The most beloved goaltender in recent Maple Leafs history waits for a telephone call that may never come. Curtis Joseph has not retired, only most of the National Hockey League teams have already quit on him. The teams that may want him -- the Leafs being one -- have neither a place nor the cap space for him. The teams that have money or need in net have looked elsewhere to locate younger, less accomplished goalies.
While CuJo might make a decent backup, his game has continued to erode as his reflexes have slowed. Never a goalie with good fundamentals, CuJo just can't make the spectacular saves that he used to, let alone enough saves to justify the #1B position he'd probably want.
Last season, CuJo had a rotten 89.3SV%, well below the league average (90.5%), and has gotten steadily worse each season. Only six goalies with 30+ games played last season has worse numbers than CuJo, and the old dog is not going to get any better. Why bring him in as an expensive backup when you can get a willing, and younger, backup for the league minimum?
While CuJo was rumored to be headed to Toronto this off-season, it appears that quite a few angry fans don't want him back. Given the way CuJo spurned the Leafs years ago (bolting to Detroit), and the fact that he's no longer a very good goalie, it's probably for the best that GM/puppet John Ferguson Jr. didn't take the bait.
The defending champs claim the top spot in this week's power rankings, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes make jumps of their own as they look to earn playoff berths in their respective conferences.
There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN. 
Many hopes and dreams will be realized when the NHL Entry Draft gets underway this Friday. Thousands of kids and young adults have been waiting for the day that some NHL team (even the Florida Panthers) calls their name and brings them down to put on their new sweater.
Tonight is yet another edition of that heralded smackdown of provincial neighbors, The Battle of Alberta, and it's not without its usual pregame drama: Curtis Joseph is scheduled to get his first start tonight for Calgary, in place of the 
Well, the old dog is back! The Calgary Flames, one of about four teams chasing after the old pup, have won the sweepstakes and signed the geezer to a contract. We're still awaiting the actual details, but it's assumed to be a deal simply for this season. 
With his recent play at the does-anyone-watch-this? Spengler Cup over in Davos, Switzerland, veteran goalie Curtis Joseph is suddenly resurfacing in rumors about a few NHL teams being interested in his services. Joseph wanted to use the Spengler Cup as a springboard back to the NHL, and it may just work.
Once upon a time, Curtis Joseph was one of the better goaltenders in the NHL. Ask any GM if he'd want CuJo as his #1 goalie, and you'd likely get an emphatic "Yes! Gimme gimme gimme!"
