FanHouse NikAntropov

Hockey fans in Atlanta have known nothing but losing and front office incompetence since the Thrashers joined the NHL a decade ago. Even the best season in franchise history, the 2006-07 campaign that saw the Thrashers qualify for their first and only playoff appearance, ended in disappointment as they were quickly swept under the rug in four games by the New York Rangers.

In the two seasons following that trip to the postseason, the Thrashers have returned to their sub-80-point ways, toiling at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Thanks to a couple of shrewd moves at the start of the offseason, and some returning young talent, this year's version of the Thrashers looks like it has a chance to make some noise.

Before the Rangers made a whole host of changes to their team in March -- the additions of Sean Avery, Derek Morris, Nik Antropov and a coaching switch -- they had a few problems; their high paid stars weren't producing, they played with no emotion many nights and they couldn't score at all, depending on Henrik Lundqvist to win games.

During last night's loss to the Capitals and in their other three losses during the series, the Rangers fell prey to these same faults. Blame coach John Tortorella's distractions and GM Glen Sather's letter all you want, but this was still the same that struggled mightily before the bandaids were applied.

Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins rallied from a bit of a swoon around the All-Star Break to easily win the top seed. Even if you subscribe to the idea of Boston being favored because of their strong overall record, there are no sure things in these here playoffs. Who will threaten to knock the Bruins off their pedestal?

The playoffs might not start for another week, but Tuesday's throw down in Madison Square Garden between the Rangers and Canadiens might as well be a playoff game. How big is this game? Well, if we believe Larry Brooks of the New York Post, this is the biggest regular season game the Rangers have played since the lockout. Yeah. It's that big.

In this week's power rankings, the New Jersey Devils remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL, holding off the Detroit Red Wings for the top spot thanks to an historic week for goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Vancouver makes a big jump, while the Montreal Canadiens continue to fade at the absolute worst time of the season.

It's not very often that I find myself on common ground with Mike Milbury. The fiery, often controversial announcer and former Islanders GM has a tendency to be outspoken -- and other times simply misquoted. Today, he wrote a blog for CBC praising Glen Sather and the Rangers for turning things around since the deadline. And I can do nothing else but wholeheartedly agree.

The Rangers were a soap opera without any identifiable characters for past few months. Their hot start in October was nothing but a faint memory as they slipped down the standings and were frustratingly futile on offense. No one in the locker room really seemed concerned to do anything about it. Not that they didn't care -- I'm sure they did -- it's just that they needed someone to light a fire under them.

The Flyers and Rangers split a home-and-home series over the weekend with a pair of physical games between the two divisional rivals. During Sunday's game, Philadelphia defenseman Braydon Coburn was ejected (and issued a five-minute major) for cross-checking Nik Antropov away from the action.

If you thought the deadline week saga of Bill Guerin and the Islanders was over, think again. Today, Larry Brooks of the New York Post added some after the fact rumors to the fray. According to Brooks, the Islanders offered the Rangers the same deal the Penguins got, but Glen Sather didn't take it.

Instead, the Rangers ended up getting Nik Antropov from Toronto to help cure their scoring woes. Antopov has delivered in his short time on Broadway, scoring four points in five games and is +4. It's hard to argue that Guerin would have been able to do more than that, but we'll take another look at the trades that did -- and didn't -- happen on deadline day.

Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like the American job market pretty much everything these days. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.

This year's trade deadline features 22 trades that sent 45 players to new cities. There were only a handful of major ones, but those should still have an impact on their respective teams. Those deals can also drastically change the complexion of a the playoff races. Today, we'll examine if that will be the case for any of the teams currently in the hunt.

Flames 5, Flyers 1: The Calgary Flames were the big winners during the NHL's trade deadline, picking up Olli Jokinen from the Phoenix Coyotes and Jordan Leopold from the Colorado Avalanche. It didn't take the two newcomers long to make an impact for the Flames, as they each scored in the first period of Calgary's 5-1 win in Philadelphia.

Jokinen scored a pair of goals in the first period, while Leopold added his seventh of the season to help the Flames race out to a 4-0 lead.