FanHouse DionPhaneuf

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 35 is Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf.

There are quite a few similarities between Calgary's Dion Phaneuf, the No. 35 player in my rankings, and Nashville's Shea Weber, the No. 44 player. They're both 23 years old, were selected in the 2003 draft, and have a very similar skill set. They both possess heavy slap shots from the blue line and are capable of racking up impressive goal totals, while each plays a physically intimidating, and sometimes reckless, type of game.

Honestly, you can't really go wrong by picking one over the other. They're both top-pairing players and can anchor a team's defense for the next decade. So, why did I go with Phaneuf first?

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The Florida Panthers took quite a gamble at the NHL's trade deadline by holding onto soon-to-be free agent defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. In the end, the Panthers not only missed the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season, but now they've also lost their one-time franchise defenseman, as the team traded his rights to Calgary for Jordan Leopold and a third-round pick.

Leopold, like Bouwmeester, will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, assuming deals can't be reached before then.

The Calgary Flames face elimination Monday night at home. They'll play the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

When they take to the ice, they hope to have star defenseman Dion Phaneuf available to play. Phaneuf left Game 5 after his head clonked that of Blackhawk Troy Brouwer. His status became cloudier when he was nowhere to be found for practice Sunday.

It took seven tries to do it and now the Calgary Flames can say that they have beaten the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2008-09 season. Heading into Game Three tonight, the Flames had lost all six meetings with the Hawks this year. In front of a raucous "C of Red" at home in Calgary, the Flames emphatically ended that streak against a Patrick Kane-less Hawks team.

During each of the first two games of this series, the Flames blew leads in Chicago. That wouldn't be the case tonight as they narrowed the Hawks lead in the series to one game with a 4-2 win. It seemed like the young team from the Windy City may have been a bit nervous about their first road playoff game since 2002.

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Caveat emptor. I'm sure Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks was aware of the phrase prior to his signing of Sean Avery this past summer, and if he wasn't, he most certainly is now.

Avery, the NHL's super-pest, never seemed to fit in the Stars locker room after signing a four-year, $15.5 million deal, clashing with veterans and failing to produce much of anything on the ice in his brief, 23-game tenure in Dallas. Then came December 2, 2008, when the Stars visited Dion Phaneuf and the Calgary Flames.

The Dallas Stars reportedly placed Sean Avery on re-entry waivers Monday morning, giving the 29 other teams in the NHL an opportunity to pick him up for half price (Dallas will be responsible for half of Avery's contract). It's long been assumed that the New York Rangers will be Avery's eventual landing spot, allowing him to raise his particular brand of hell in the Atlantic Division once again.

It's worth pointing out that after Avery was given his ridiculous suspension for cracking a sex joke, John Tortorella, the current Rangers head coach, had some harsh words for the NHL's premier agitator.

The Penguins needed a game like this, and it's quite a way to open up the second half of the season as they scored five third period goals on their way to a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers. Marc-Andre Fleury kept the Penguins in it early, turning aside 32-of-34 shots, while the offense took over in the third period, peppering Henrik Lundqvist with 16 shots.

Welcome to another exciting edition of the NHL Wheel of Discipline! Our effort to chronicle the stupidity of the NHL's supplementary discipline system continues. Just remember, Sean Avery got six games for a sex joke. Instead of serving as a baseline, it seems to be a forgotten fact at NHL headquarters.

There's no denying the positive effect a hard, clean check can have on a hockey team. Energizes the bench, and if you're at home, it also energizes the fans. It can be a huge momentum swing.

Wednesday's action across the NHL marked the end of the first half of the season, and there were nine games on the schedule.

Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 3: For a while, it appeared as if Toronto had a chance to knock off the top team in the Eastern Conference, jumping out to a 3-1 lead over Boston. The Bruins, however, proved why there's a 30-point difference between the two teams in the standings and scored a pair of power play goals in the third period, forcing overtime. Michael Ryder scored the game-winner in a shootout, leading the Bruins to a 4-3 win.

Thursday night was Tim Gleason bobblehead night in Carolina, and after a quick search of eBay, I've found that you too can own this rare collectible for the low, low price of $29.99 (starting bid)! Exciting. And incredibly bizarre. Anyway, after the Maple Leafs jumped out to a 4-0 lead, the Hurricanes roared back to tie the game, thanks in large part to three goals in the first eight minutes of the third period.

Unfortunately, at the 13:44 mark of the period, Gleason, the man of the night, was sent to the box for high-sticking Nik Antropov which ultimately led to Tomas Kaberle scoring the game-winner, helping Toronto to a 6-4 win. Jason Blake netted a hat trick -- and picked up two assists -- for the Leafs, while Ian White and Niklas Hagman also added goals, as Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak.