FanHouse Doug Weight

According to team officials, New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo has been diagnosed with the H1N1 flu.

The 21-year-old Okposo did not travel accompany the team on its flight on Tuesday afternoon to Washington, where they face the Capitals on Wednesday. The team did not release any further details on Okposo's illness or a timetable for his recovery.

Doug Weight, his wife Allison and their three children live on the North Shore of Long Island. For the next month or so, the NHL veteran and his family will be joined in their house by a teenager: 2009 first overall pick John Tavares.

"They've made me feel right at home," said Tavares. "Some home-cooked meals, a nice family to be with. It really was a kind gesture by Doug and his wife."

The Islanders are a team knee-deep in youngsters. That became even more apparent after they shipped off Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin at the trade deadline, in addition to the injuries that have also decimated the roster. So far this season, 13 players have made their NHL debut for the team, and the roster many nights resembles something out of the AHL.

Today, the Islanders re-signed veteran Doug Weight to a one-year contract, a move that will sure up their depth at center next season and provide a veteran presence in the young locker room.

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.

It's no secret that the New York Islanders are going to be sellers at the trade deadline. They've already shipped out Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli and, one would assume, they would be trying to send more veterans packing between now and March 4th in the hopes of bringing back draft picks or youth. Among those veterans is captain Bill Guerin and, as the Islanders have been decimated by injuries, he may be one of their only veteran bargaining chips left.

On Monday night when the Penguins hit the ice against the Rangers, the game featured the brotherly matchup of Jordan Staal vs. Marc Staal, an event that gets mentioned no fewer than 100 times whenever it takes place. The same thing happens when Jordan and/or Marc take on Eric Staal in Carolina, and may God help us when Jared Staal makes the the NHL. The somewhat over the top promotion of the matchup even results in extracurricular activities from the viewers at home.

Anyway, there's another family reunion of sorts on Tuesday night, when the New Jersey Devils take on the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils, as you may know, are coached by Brent Sutter, while his son, Brandon, happens to play for Carolina. It's the first time the two have ever faced off in a game, and Brent isn't exactly looking forward to the challenge of coaching against his son, even though he played against his five brothers time-and-time again in the NHL. As Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger reports, (Brent) Sutter thinks this is a completely different challenge:

"It's an awkward thing,'' Sutter said, turning serious. "It's a unique thing... as a dad, I'm very proud of him, as I am of all my kids. It's different than playing against a brother. It's just different. It's your own son.''

Brandon was the Hurricanes No. 1 pick (11th overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and has recorded one goal and five assists in 32 games for Carolina this season. He's also managed to come back from a devastating hit by New York's Doug Weight earlier in the season.

Fire & Ice has more on the father vs. son tilt.

Columbus goalie Steve Mason entered Friday's game in Colorado having registered three consecutive shutouts. He managed to keep the Avalanche off the board for 17 minutes, until Darcy Tucker snapped Mason's streak with his fifth goal of the season at the 17:20 mark of the opening frame. The 20-year old rookie posted 199 consecutive minutes of shutout hockey for Columbus, and Tucker's tally in the first period was the only goal he surrendered on the night, as he turned aside 23-of-24 shots in a 6-1 Blue Jackets win.

Mason has been a great story for the Blue Jackets, as he's pretty much carried them this season when you consider they've scored only nine goals in the eight games he's lost, including being shutout three times. He's allowed more than three goals only two times this season, and has yet to surrender more than four in a single game. Should be interesting to see how long he can continue to ride this hot streak.

As for the rest of the Blue Jackets, following Tucker's goal they pretty much took this game over and erupted for six goals over the final two periods. Rick Nash finished with a four-point night (penalty shot goal, three assists) while Kristian Huselius (two goals), Mike Commodore, Jakub Voracek and R.J. Umberger also scored for Columbus.

The win actually puts Columbus one-point ahead of Colorado for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, while the Blue Jackets are 3-0 to open their current six-game road trip, extending their winning streak to four games overall.

The Islanders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Tuesday night, thanks to a pair of goals from Doug Weight and Andy Hilbert less than a minute apart. Unfortunately for them, as has been the case all season, they couldn't hold it, as the Flyers roared back to take a 3-2 lead in the second period, and eventually win, 4-3, handing the Islanders their fourth straight loss.

After Aaron Asham put the Flyers on the board late in the first period, Darroll Plowe, a former undrafted free agent -- a fact Versus mentioned no fewer than 30 times -- tied the game midway through the second with his first NHL goal. Eight minutes later, Jeff Carter scored his 20th goal of the season -- tied for the top spot in the league with Buffalo's Thomas Vanek -- to give Philadelphia its first lead of the night.

The Islanders fought back at the 2:07 mark of the final period, when Blake Comeau scored a relatively weak goal on Martin Biron, after it essentially rolled into the net behind him.

Simon Gagne scored the game-winner late in the third, moving the Flyers into a tie for second place in the Atlantic Division with cross-state rival, Pittsburgh.

18 days after a hit from Doug Weight sent him to the hospital and crashing out of the lineup, the Carolina Hurricanes have activated forward Brandon Sutter from injured reserve list. Sutter has missed eight games due to a concussion thanks to the Weight hit. To make room for Sutter, the Hurricanes sent forward Dwight Helminen back to Albany of the AHL.

There's no word yet on whether or not Sutter will be in the lineup tonight as the Hurricanes host the Washington Capitals with first place in the Southeast Division on the line.

Like it or not, Weight's devastating hit on Sutter has reignited a serious debate in the NHL over how to regulate hits to the head. For some, but not all hockey fans, it's perplexing to see Weight's hit on Sutter go officially unpunished, while other hits that seemed to cause far less damage have resulted in significant suspensions.

We've seen a number of vicious hits in the NHL recently, and Saturday night on Long Island another was added to the list, as Doug Weight of the Islanders knocked Carolina Hurricanes rookie Brandon Sutter unconscious with a legal, but devastating hit with 10:52 left in the third period of a 4-3 Carolina win. That's Sutter pictured at right after he regained consciousness and skated off the ice under his own power.

Here's Hurricanes beat writer Chip Alexander from the News and Observer on the incident:

Sutter had his head down and was reaching for the puck when Weight popped him in the head with his shoulder. Sutter appeared to be knocked unconscious and was on the ice for several minutes before being helped off.

[...]

He did not travel with the team and was kept in in New York overnight for observation.

Most of the Carolina players called it a clean hit by Weight, who was not penalized. Vicious, but clean.

Video of the hit is after the jump.

I have to admit that I am a St. Louis Blues fan (yeah, stop snickering already), and I have to admit that I never expected the Blues to be doing this well. After last night's win over the Chicago Blackhawks (OK, not a great feat in and of itself), the Blues are now 4-1-0 and looking better than Jane Seymour.

Let's start giving the Blues some credit for being "for real". Ever since Andy Murray took over the coaching reigns from Mike "Dirty" Kitchen, the Blues have truly been a team to be reckoned with.

With Murray's record over .500 with the Bluenotes, it's a real possibility that the Blues will be contending for a playoff spot in a few months. That is, if Doug Weight does better than he has been doing. One point all season? C'mon ... you can't be THAT washed up, can you? *grumble*

Overall, the Blues still have a shaky looking defense corps (especially since Jay McKee can't stay healthy), but their offense is vastly improved and Murray is an excellent coach. Getting easy points from the Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and perhaps Predators will certainly help the Blues in their quest to start a new playoffs-made streak.