FanHouse Keith Ballard

Watching the hockey news wires Sunday, it was clear that some important news coming out of Florida was being squelched.

Yes, I suppose it was exciting that Sidney Crosby stepped up to defend teammate Evgeni Malkin. Then again, I think just as much attention, if not more, should be paid to the perfectly executed hip check that Keith Ballard delivered to send Malkin tumbling through the air in the first place. In hockey, the hip check has become a lost art. Bravo to Ballard for fearlessly delivering it clean, hard and without fear against one of the game's biggest names. But we shouldn't ignore the fact that the Panthers actually managed to win the game, 4-2.

After watching Ballard wipe out Malkin -- go and watch it again now, I'll wait -- I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the Panthers. I'll freely admit that's a bit abnormal, as I live in the Washington suburbs and have gotten used to thinking of them as a surprisingly pesky division rival of the Capitals. But I'm feeling sympathy nonetheless, and part of it comes from the realization that this franchise -- one that endured a raft of layoffs in their business operations earlier this year -- needs to make the playoffs more than just about any other franchise in the NHL outside of Phoenix.

Sidney Crosby and the Florida Panthers have an infamous history of sorts, as the Penguins captain had a run-in with Brett McLean earlier this season. On Sunday, Crosby again found himself dropping the gloves with a member of the Panthers, as he squared off with defenseman Keith Ballard in the first period.

As Adam Gretz mentioned, Wednesday's Buffalo-Florida game featured a melee at the end. After Maxim Afinogenov capped a four-goal third for the Sabres with an empty-netter, Panther Nathan Horton took exception. Perhaps Horton thought Afingenov should have done the Penguin thing and missed the net. The ensuing scuffle broke out into a full-fledged fight between Craig Rivet of the Sabres and Florida's Keith Ballard. Here's a better look at all that transpired, featuring the awesomeness of Rick Jeanneret.

The NHL trade action is heating up as the deadline approaches. TSN is reporting on their TradeCentre program that we've had our first trade involving a "big-name" player.

Olli Jokinen was a hot commodity around the NHL Draft last summer, as the Florida Panthers were looking to move him. Phoenix won the sweepstakes, with defenseman Keith Ballard being the centerpiece of the package they sent to Florida. The marriage, however, didn't last long, as Jokinen has been dealt to Calgary. The Flames send Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust, and a first-round pick, according to TSN.

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Panthers 6, Capitals 2: After a couple of blowout losses this past week, the Florida Panthers rebounded for a convincing 6-2 win in Washington on Sunday, thanks in large part to a 3-for-6 effort from their power play. After Alexander Semin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead, the Panthers picked up three consecutive power play goals on their way to a four goal first period.

Bryan McCabe registered four points in the win, while Stephen Weiss picked up a goal and two assists. Jay Bouwmeester, Brett McLean and Keith Ballard also added two points.

The Phoenix Coyotes will be hosting the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night, and it's likely they'll be taking the ice without defenseman Derek Morris. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Morris has reportedly given general manager Don Maloney a list of teams he would be willing to accept a trade to.

Dreger also reports that until a trade can be made, Morris will not play for the Coyotes in order to avoid an injury.

The Clash once posed the question: Should I stay or should I go now? We take a look at the big names surrounding the NHL trade deadline and whether they'll be staying in place or going to finish the season in another city.

Prior to this year's NHL entry draft, the Phoenix Coyotes acquired Olli Jokinen from the Florida Panthers for defensemen Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard, and a second-round pick. At the time, it looked a strong move for the Coyotes as they looked to emerge from the basement of the highly competitive Pacific Division.

We're less than one year away from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Once again, the NHL will take a mid-season break and allow its players to participate in the Games.

After a wonderful run to silver in Salt Lake City back in 2002, Team USA was nothing short of disappointing in Torino three years ago. The Americans went just 1-3-1 in pool play, including an inexplicable tie against Latvia, before dropping a 4-3 decision to Finland in the quarterfinals. Heading into 2010, general manager Brian Burke has plenty of decisions to make, mainly surrounding the question of age.

Paul Maurice made his debut in his second stint with the Hurricanes on Thursday night, and, well, it wasn't exactly an impressive showing by Carolina, as the Penguins walked out of the building with a 5-2 win. Sidney Crosby registered four assists on the night, while Petr Sykora picked up a pair of power play goals to lead the Penguins.

Carolina goalie Michael Leighton struggled most of the night, giving up the five goals on only 22 shots. He struggled with puck control and wasn't exactly helped by his defense, as they were guilty of a few costly turnovers in the defensive zone. With the Hurricanes trailing 1-0 in the first, Josef Melichar (former Penguin) turned the puck over to Pascal Dupuis who ripped a shot behind Leighton giving the Penguins an early 2-0 lead.

Ruslan Fedotenko and Miroslav Satan also scored for the Penguins, while Tuomo Ruutu and Matt Cullen scored the only two goals of the night for Carolina. Both goals brought the Hurricanes to within two goals on the scoreboard, only to have the Penguins quickly strike back, squashing any momentum Carolina may have built.

The Hurricanes have now lost four of their past five games.

Last night when the Phoenix Coyotes dropped a 3-2 decision to the San Jose Sharks, they did so without the services of center Olli Jokinen. It was only the second game Jokinen has missed since the 2002-03 season (the first one was Friday night's game in Colorado), snapping a streak of 397 consecutive games played. While it will never be confused with Cal Ripken Jr.'s ironman streak, it's still an impressive accomplishment to play in every NHL game for five consecutive seasons.

Jokinen, 29, will be sidelined for two weeks with a shoulder injury suffered against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

Originally a No. 3 overall pick of the Los Angeles Kings, Jokinen was eventually shipped to the New York Islanders where he played one season before then-general manager Mike Milbury made, in my opinion, one of the worst trades in NHL history. Just prior to the 2000 NHL entry draft, Milbury sent Jokinen, along with goaltender Roberto Luongo, to the Florida Panthers in exchange for forwards Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish.

After toiling in anonymity for four years in Florida, developing into a consistent 35-goal scorer, Jokinen was again part of a draft day trade this past offseason, when the Panthers shipped him to Phoenix for Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton and a second-round draft pick.

So far this season Jokinen has 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) in 21 games for the Coyotes.