FanHouse MartinSt.Louis

Each and every Saturday this season I'll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail.

This has been a banner week for Knuckle Puck, easily the wackiest and most interesting since I started this feature about a month ago. I have so much to write about that I don't even know where to start things off. Do I go with the Kingston Frontenacs wearing Don Cherry styled jerseys? Or what about the Lightning getting kinky at practice? Then there are the folks at UniWatch showing some love for the red line, and retailer River City Sports trying to trick Islanders fans into buying Rangers hats. What's a writer to do? Well, for starters, you can follow me through the jump.

John Tavares has yet to step on the ice for the New York Islanders, but he's already making an impact for the once-proud franchise that has been aimlessly stumbling along a path of mediocrity for the past decade-and-a-half. This is, after all, a franchise that hasn't won a playoff series since David Volek beat Tom Barrasso in double-overtime way back in 1993.

Can Tavares, an 18-year-old phenom, change all of that? Well, he certainly can't hurt. Heading into Friday's NHL Entry Draft, there were rumors that the Islanders might be leaning toward either Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman or Brampton center Matt Duchene with the top pick. In the end, the team selected Tavares, and already Islanders fans are roaring their approval in the form of cold hard cash.

After jumping out to a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final, Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock held a press conference on Monday and fielded a variety of questions from the media. For the most part, it was your typical, run-of-the-mill press conference.

About half way through, a reporter started asking Babcock about how he once joked that he was ready for the salary cap to break up the young talent the Chicago Blackhawks have assembled over the years. In Babcock's mind, he wasn't joking.

Pavel Datsyuk has owned the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy the past three seasons, and he's going to have an opportunity to claim another one as the Red Wings' star is, once again, one of the top vote-getters in 2009. Joining Datsyuk in the top three are New Jersey's Zach Parise and Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis.

The 30-year-old center matched a career-high with 97 points this season, fourth best in the NHL, while also setting a new personal-best with 32 goals. One of the best -- and most underrated -- players in the NHL, Datsyuk is the total package as a player, and is also one of the all-time great draft day steals, going in the sixth-round of the 1998 draft, 187th overall.

FanHouse brings you full coverage of the 2009 NCAA Men's Frozen Four in Washington, D.C.

As the Frozen Four begins late Thursday afternoon, there will be 22 players showcasing their skills that have been drafted by NHL teams. While many of the others will be, as the NCAA says, "going pro in something other than sports", a good number of them will showcase their talents in an effort to join a growing population. Every year, more and more college players end up getting a shot at the NHL. Not only that, but a greater number of them are making a real name for themselves when they get there.

Evgeni Malkin was listed as questionable for Tuesday's game with Atlanta because he had been a little under the weather the past couple of days. You would have never known it watching him skate in Pittsburgh's 6-2 win, while Thrashers goalie Johan Hedberg was the only one looking like he was about to hurl into his goalie mark by the end of the night.

Thanks to his five-point performance on Tuesday, Malkin became the first player in the NHL to hit the 100-point plateau this year, reaching the century mark for the second consecutive season.

If the NHL follows through with its plan to eliminate "staged fights," we're no longer going to see the type of tomfoolery shown below. That's Florida Panthers forward Ville Peltonen dropping the gloves with Tampa Bay's Evgeny Artyukhin four seconds into Saturday's game. Eliminating these "staged" fights is probably a good thing, though we would have missed out on this insane David vs. Goliath mismatch.

Peltonen, all 5-foot-11, 200 pounds of him, challenged the 6-foot-4, 254-pound Artyuhkin right off the opening draw and ultimately ended up in the fetal position. It almost appeared as if Artyuhkin didn't want to fight, knowing full well he was going to pound Peltonen into the ice.

Weeks of rumors, innuendo, and e5s will finally come to a head on Wednesday. At 3pm Eastern, the NHL trade deadline will pass. You can follow all the activity with our NHL Trade Deadline Tracker.

Entering play Tuesday night, 23 NHL teams are either in a playoff position or within six points of one. While this is great for the playoff races, it's not so good for the deadline. It minimizes the number of potential sellers, drives up the trade market for the few players who should be available, and leaves us wondering if any big deals will go down. Here's a look at how the Eastern Conference looks heading into the deadline.

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.

On Monday, we talked about the possibility of Tampa Bay trading forward Martin St. Louis. On Tuesday, another Lightning player is the topic as we turn our attention to 41-year-old winger Mark Recchi. He's hardly the player he once was, and has played for four different teams over the previous four years.

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.

The Tampa Bay Lightning haven't lived up to the preseason hype, as they currently sit in the No. 13 spot in the Eastern Conference, 16 points out of a playoff spot. They've already fired Barry Melrose, and have been bombarded with trade rumors surrounding their captain, Vincent Lecavalier, and the possibility of him being shipped to his hometown of Montreal.

Another player that's supposedly on the block is right wing Martin St. Louis -- an exciting player that's still putting up a point per game, even at the age of 33.