FanHouse Justin Williams

Even though the NHL's trade deadline has already passed, deals are still being announced because, as ESPN describes it, there's been a log jam at the NHL's fax machine. For some reason the idea of the NHL, in this world of modern technology, still using a fax machine on its biggest day of the regular season is somewhat hilarious. Does the league still hammer out salary cap details with an abacus? Does Gary Bettman get his trade alerts via beeper?

One of the deals being announced is a four-team trade that involves Erik Cole returning to the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton receiving Patrick O'Sullivan and Ales Kotalik, Los Angeles picking up Justin Williams, and Buffalo getting a draft pick. If only it were that simple.

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Blues 2, Rangers 1: A day after getting crushed on their home ice, the New York Rangers dropped a 2-1 decision in St. Louis, losing for the eighth time in their past nine games.

At this point, it's anybody's guess as to how long Tom Renney remains behind the bench, as the Rangers continue to slide down the Eastern Conference standings.

Thanks to a pair of goals from Matt Ellis, the Buffalo Sabres ended Boston's 10-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory at TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday afternoon. The loss not only snaps Boston's 10-game winning streak, it also ended a 14-game home winning streak, while also giving the Bruins their sixth regulation loss of the season.

Ellis opened the scoring for the Sabres just three minutes into regulation, while Thomas Vanek added his 26th goal of the season just two minutes later.

After Phil Kessel cut the deficit in half with his 24th goal of the season, Ellis added his second goal of the game early in the second period to score what proved to be the game-winner. Paul Gaustad added his fourth goal of the year for the Sabres, while Ryan Miller turned aside 29 shots in net.

The win for Buffalo, combined with Pittsburgh's loss to Florida, moved the Sabres into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The game of the night -- or so we thought -- was that monster matchup in Detroit, between the defending Stanley Cup champions, and the team that, thus far, has been the best team in the NHL this season. On paper, it looked like it was going to be an epic tilt. Possible Western Conference Finals preview, Mike Babcock vs. Todd Mclellan, teacher vs. student, etc. etc. etc. Of course, it was the second time they faced off this year, but, hey, it still looked like it was going to be awesome.

This, of course, is why the games aren't played on paper, as the Red Wings disposed of San Jose quite easily in a 6-0 romp at Joe Louis Arena. It's the Sharks' second straight loss, and the first game they've dropped in regulation in over a month.

As I type this post I'm watching the Carolina Hurricanes not blowing out the Montreal Canadiens because of a series of stupid saves by Cristobel Huet f(something I'm sure Habs bloggers will say a lot this season) from the comfort of my computer. Last month I gave you a first look at the NHL's video portal (The Habs just tied the game on the PP. BTW, Ward stinks) and after kicking the tires of NeuLion's streaming technology during the pre-season, I decided to ditch Cable TV altogether for Center Ice Online.

The best part is listening to the game in French on RDS and the commercials are not blacked out. I love Canadian TV commercials!

As I maintain a home away from home during the week, this worked out beautifully for me, because after signing up for the online version of the package I received an e-mail confirmation of my order and a rebate coupon for a 50% refund if I was a Center Ice broadcast subscriber (which I am via DirecTV). Since I don't watch any other TV, ditching the cable service was really a no-brainer.

The downside is that I'll miss the games on Versus, but I figure that the cost savings on subsidizing Comcast's Cable's franchise monopoly directly is more than offset by the half-dozen games I get to spend in a sports bar drinking Guinness and downing 20 wings.

Well, back to the game, it's getting nasty out there. And someone better inform Justin "I'm a Bigger Diver than Derek Roy" Williams that the regular season has begun. Eh, forget this game, the Battle of Ontario has begun.

Ta,