An interesting trade deadline day. I think the bottom line on the Mattias Norstrom deal is that he is a big upgrade over Jaroslav Modry. When you look at Doug Armstrong's deals he moved Modry and Mathias Tjarnqvist off the roster and brought in Nostrom and Ladislav Nagy. That's upgrading the roster. Getting Nolan Baumgartner off waivers is far from spectacular, but it is a good insurance move to protect this team against a rash of injuries to the defense come playoff time.
Giving up first round picks each of the next two years? Well, it sends the message - as George Allen used to say - that the future is now. Several teams have made that decision here the in past few weeks. But as Brian Burke likes to point out, only one GM gets to celebrate with a parade at end of the season. That guy will be the short-term winner in all this. One of the sellers stockpiling picks might end up being a long-term winner.
And you never know, the short-term winner could end up being a guy who did very little at the deadline. You can go back and look at teams and see where teams that have made deadline deals have won and other cases where teams have stood pat or did very little have won. Time will tell. I think there are a lot of very good teams out there.
As far as Norstrom, his acquisition gives the Stars a very impressive set of defensemen. The Stars were lacking that defensive defenseman type and Norstrom fits the bill. He's got a history with Dave Tippett and Philippe Boucher, so that should be a plus as far as chemistry issues go.
When you look at the roster on paper and what Armstrong has done, this team looks very good. You throw Brenden Morrow into the mix in late March and it looks even better.
As for the other moves, I think Bill Guerin is a nice fit in San Jose. He has a history with Joe Thornton and the move gives the Sharks an incredibly deep set of forwards. I mentioned the other day that I liked the Craig Rivet acquisition as well. It should help them on the blue line.
Todd Bertuzzi to Detroit? If he's healthy, he's the kind of player Detroit has been lacking.
Nashville got a great player in Peter Forsberg and bolstered their defense with Vitaly Vishnevski.
Calgary made some nice moves to upgrade their team, getting Craig Conroy, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau.
Vancouver added Brent Sopel and Bryan Smolinski and the Canucks' best move was getting Roberto Luongo in the summer.
Anaheim and Minnesota were fairly quiet, but both teams made big moves in the off-season.
Again, time will tell on all of these moves.
I still see eight pretty good teams heading into the playoffs and I don't see one team that just jumps out at me as a favorite. I can see strengths in all of them and find some weaknesses too. I think the Stars have as good a chance as anybody coming out of the West. But there is a long time between now and April 11, which is when the playoffs begin.
Good two points for the Stars. Just another close game between the Canucks and the Stars and I really don't see much of a difference between the two teams. They are pretty evenly matched. The standings say that. What I saw in four games between them says that too.
The discrepancy in penalties? Yeah, I found that kind of odd. So much for the theory that the refs will even things out over the course of the game. I thought Jan Bulis interfered with Marty Turco and I thought Turco sold it. But it was still interference. Sami Salo shot the puck out of play from his own zone. That's automatic. Anyway, in the end it came down to special teams execution and the Stars got the job done.
It was pretty much what I expected. Not highly entertaining, but a pretty good chess match between two teams that are on about equal footing with each other.
Ducks won Sunday night. A couple of late power play goals by Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger helped them beat Colorado 5-3. I didn't see the entire game, but the Ducks still look so-so if you ask me.
I like the pick up of Craig Rivet by the Sharks. It's far from a blockbuster and it was a little pricey - they gave up a first rounder and Josh Gorges - but I think it will add to their blue line. He's a reliable and smart veteran defender who can move the puck, has a good shot, blocks shots and can play a physical game. He's also a right shot, which is something San Jose needed. All their defensemen were left shots. The move addressed a need San Jose had.
Atlanta gave up a lot to get Keith Tkachuk out of St. Louis: first-round pick and a third-round pick in 2007, a second-round pick in 2008 and forward Glen Metropolit. If Tkachuk re-signs with Atlanta in the off-season, the Blues get a first-round pick in 2008.
That's a lot of future assets for a rental and another big asset if Tkachuk is more than a rental.
It's like any of these deadline deals. The value of it won't be immediately known. Right now I think Don Waddell is in desperation mode and the price he paid reflects that. A few weeks ago the Thrashers looked like they were a lock for the playoffs. They aren't a lock right now. They've been struggling and Tampa Bay has overtaken them in the Southeast and Atlanta could be fighting for a spot in the tournament. Time will tell on this one, but I think he paid way too much for Tkachuk. Of course, Waddell could stil get the last laugh.
More than the recent Ducks and Sharks games, I am really looking forward to this afternoon's game with Vancouver. This is a potential first round matchup of the playoffs and the Canucks are playing very well. It should be a very good game. The Canucks are an interesting team. They just seem to find ways to win on some nights, much like the Stars. It should be fun. Of course, any game with Roberto Luongo, who I think is a leading Hart Trophy candidate, is always a treat.
The Stars picked up Nolan Baumgartner off re-entry waivers. Not surprised. It's defensive depth for the playoffs. An insurance policy if you will.
Last night's NHL schedule lived up to expectations for me. Ottawa and Buffalo was a great game. A couple of good scraps, a couple of wacky goals, Buffalo rallying from a 4-1 and 5-3 deficits to tie and then finally Ottawa winning it 6-5. Nashville beat Detroit in OT on a Peter Forsberg goal, his first as a Pred. Entertaining, but sloppy game between the Flames and Sharks that was won by Calgary 7-4. The struggling Thrashers lose to Carolina in key Southeast Division game and announce afterwards that they've acquired Alexei Zhitnik from Philly and now word has it they've acquired Keith Tkachuk from the Blues.
Well, that was a pretty thorough dismantling of the Ducks last night. The Stars were superb. The Ducks? Got me. Their effort was disappointing. They are in a big time funk and it's help turned the Pacific into a dog fight.
The Stars, on the other hand, are on a roll. They haven't lost consecutive games in almost a month. When guys start coming back this team is going to have some very good depth at forward.
I took a couple of things out of last night's game. The Ladislav Nagy and Mike Ribeiro combination seemed to click. We'll see how it is going forward. Nice play by the other guy on that line - Loui Eriksson - to set up the Nagy goal.
The Jussi Jokinen line continues to produce. Jokinen, Antti Miettinen and Krys Barch had a good game. The checking line continues to be highly effective in its role.
The Stars are playing extremely well. So is Vancouver, which should make for a great game Sunday. It's also a possible preview of a first round playoff series.
There are some great games tonight. Buffalo and Ottawa meet again. Detroit plays Nashville. San Jose is at Calgary. Carolina and Atlanta have a big game in the Southeast. It should be a good night of watching hockey if you are so inclined.
According to Mike Heika's article in today's Dallas Morning News, it appears another deal by Doug Armstrong appears unlikely. I'm not sure that is a huge shock. I thought maybe an eighth defenseman, a minor league guy with some NHL experience.
Anyway, if you look at the Stars' current situation getting Brenden Morrow back in late March is going to be like a trade deadline acquisition. You are adding some scoring punch, grit and leadership to a current roster that has been playing some pretty good hockey. The good thing on Morrow is that there is no concern about trying to fit him in to the group or any disruption to chemistry. It's almost the perfect acquisition.
Mike also reports that Patrik Stefan is probably going to have surgery on his hip and he'll be finished for the season. I know a lot of people haven't been happy with Stefan this season, but he would have been an excellent depth guy to have around in the playoffs.
If you missed last night's Sabres-Senators game, you missed a classic. It had a little bit of everything including a brawl after Ottawa's Chris Neil knocked Chris Drury out of the game with an open ice it that left Drury bloodied. Sens goalie Ray Emery, just back from a three-game suspension, dropped the gear with Marty Biron. Here are a series of highlights via YouTube.
The brawl highlights from MSG (via Hockeyfights.com_:
Here is the whole sequence of events from Rogers Sportsnet:
Not much to say about last night's game. Great effort by Marty Turco. He stole a point. I agree with Dave Tippett about the mishandle behind the net. You can't ignore all the good things he does back there and then blow occasional time there's a goof out of proportion. Bottom line is Turco was superb and stole a point.
Minnesota is a very good team. I thought they looked very good when I saw them against Nashville the other night and I thought they looked good last night. I think the eight teams that look like they are going to get in are all very good teams. It is shaping to be a great playoff. The fun now is waiting to see who ends up where.
Brett Hull as a color commentator? He had some great one-liners and his usual thoughts about the Stars offensive woes and players not going to scoring areas. It's hard to argue with a guy who scored 741 goals. It was a nice change having him in there but, at the same time, it's nice knowing that Razor will be coming back.
Those Derian Hatcher to Dallas rumors keep surfacing. I have a hard time seeing the Stars cutting a deal for Hatcher, who has two years left on his contract at a cap cost of $3.5 million per year. Hatcher probably took too much of the blame for Philly's woes early n the season and some teams might find him an appealing deadline acquisition based on his recent play, which has been pretty good. Of course the team would be saddled with that remaining two-years of the deal and I don't see the Stars doing that.
That said, it wouldn't surprise me if the Stars did a minor deal to add a depth defenseman.
I do find it interesting that the source of a lot of these Hatcher rumors appears to be Hatcher himself. The Stars rumor started about three weeks ago when Hatcher told the Philadelphia Daily News that the Stars were interested in him. Hatcher said he had heard about it just before the All-Star break.
"I haven't heard anything since then, but that was what I heard. I have a friend there who calls me and he told me that their giving up a lot of goals," Hatcher told the Philly News back on Jan. 31.
And then Hatcher linked some more teams to himself with this quote earlier this month: "I've gotten some calls from people in Edmonton I know. I think Detroit might be in there, too."
Now rumor has it the Sharks are in the mix too. Derian must have heard from someone in the Bay Area recently.
A solid win on Sunday. I am not sure there is much to say other than the Stars were just solid across the board. And the Sharks have some issues. I thought it was a pretty good game even when it was 1-0 late into the second period because there was some intensity to it. The first period was pretty physical and there were some big hits. In that respect it was interesting. As far as scoring chances, there were few and after Stu Barnes scored early that seemed to play into the Stars' hands since the Sharks were mired in that scoreless drought.
I don't know what to make of San Jose right now. Not sure I want to spend a lot of time on it. I think they have the personnel to be a very dangerous team in the playoffs, but they could use some help on defense. They had a couple of big goofs on coverage in front of the net that killed them in this game. We'll see what they do before the deadline.
I didn't think the Detroit loss on Wednesday was the end of the world, so I have a hard time overreacting the other way to the win on Sunday. Over the last 13 games - starting just before the All-Star break - the Stars have been playing very well. The 9-3-1 record is proof of that. Sunday's win was another big two points in the standings. They picked up two points on the Sharks and one on Anaheim, which lost in a shootout to the Kings Sunday. They stayed tied with Vancouver, moved two points up on Calgary and moved three points ahead of eighth place Minnesota.
As much ground as the Stars have gained on the Sharks and Ducks, those Northwest Division teams - Vancouver, Calgary and Minnesota - keep winning too. The battle for the positioning is going to be fun. It's getting to the point where Colorado and Edmonton are going to be hard pressed to push for a spot unless somebody currently in the top eight starts to fall apart and I don't see any of them doing that right now, but I guess it is still early to rule it out. It's going to be interesting to see how it shakes out.
Another three good tests this week. Minnesota is playing well. Anaheim is, well, Anaheim. And then it is on to Florida for a game with Tampa Bay, which is playing as well as anybody right now. That will round out the month and the trade deadline will be history. Then the stretch drive is really underway.
From Nashville's standpoint I like the deal for Peter Forsberg. It's a bold move, which is probably what that franchise needs. Is it going to win them the Stanley Cup? No guarantee of that. Sixteen teams will get into the tournament and only one gets a parade and there's no guarantee it will be held in Nashville.
Still, it shows GM David Poile is willing to give up some of the future to try to win now. He's got a team, in my opinion, that merits that kind of move. Forsberg is risky because of the injury problems. But when he's healthy he is one of the best players in the world. The Preds now have Forsberg, Jason Arnott and David Legwand, who has really come on this season, as a strong 1-2-3 punch at center if they go that route. However Barry Trotz cobbles it together, the Predators should have three pretty potent lines.
And I think it should create some buzz in Nashville, which is still struggling to attract fans to games. I think Nashville has some great fans, but attendance continues to lag. A deep playoff run could really help hockey in that market. Look what happened in Carolina and Tampa Bay.
You never know how things are going to work out and time will tell. Poile could look like a genius in June or he could like a guy who made a bad decision some time in early May. But give him credit for making the bold move.
Nothing like a game against the Red Wings to take a little bit of the fun out of the Stars' recent run. I just looked at last night as the Red Wing playing a better full 60 minute game. Detroit can play just as good a defensive game as Dallas and they have an advantage in offensive skill. Last night the Red Wings offensive skill - led by Henrik Zetterberg - won the game.
When you turn over the puck or don't win your share of the battles or clear pucks, you are going to compound the problems Detroit's skill players present. The Stars had some problems last night. The Red Wings, who can move the puck and are fun to watch when they do it well, took advantage, especially in the third. Zetterberg was spectacular. Pavel Datsyuk had a big goal and created some good chances. I thought Robert Lang had a pretty good game too even though he didn't factor in the scoring.
Mike Smith was excellent again last night, but like any other goalie, he's going to need more than one goal on most nights to win. The Stars are still struggling to score at even strength at times. They have failed to score at even strength in three of the last five games. It's great that the power play is picking it up here, but you have to score at even strength to help make those power play goals turn into difference makers in a game.
I thought Ladislav Nagy was OK. It was his first game. He'll get some more practice time with the team over the next few days and we'll see how he is moving forward. I am not going to read too much into his performance in one game.
Here's a new NHL commercial, that briefly features Marty Turco. It's a pretty good spot. The audio mix on this version isn't very good. There's another version at ESPN's site where the audio and video quality are better than the YouTube version. It's on the right side of the ESPN page.
Just to put all the goalie stuff in some perspective, Mike Heika of the Morning News asked Dave Tippett who would be the starter if tomorrow's game were Game 1 of the playoffs. Tippett said it would be Marty Turco.
No controversy, even though it was funny to see Mike Smith walk into the locker room today, suddenly be swarmed by TV cameras and then get questioned about the goalie controversy that isn't. Later it was Turco surrounded by the cameras. About that time Stephane Robidas walked in to the room looked at all the media and said "Whoa. For me?"
As expected, Ladisav Nagy practiced on a line with Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen.
Here's the Phoenix media spin on Nagy. This comes from the East Valley Tribune:
Privately the Coyotes have been frustrated with Nagy’s lack of goals (eight) and his inconsistent play and effort. Earlier this season, he was a healthy scratch for one game after he went to the bench for a change rather than retreating on defense on a play in which his turnover resulted in a short-handed goal for Minnesota.
Two other teams also were willing to part with a first-round pick for Nagy, but Phoenix opted to trade with the Stars because Dallas was ready to deal Monday.
Nagy asked for more than $5 million for a one-year contract last summer, and an NHL salary arbitrator awarded him $3 million.
Some insiders have wondered if the arbitration ruling stuck with Nagy and hindered him from scoring goals with regularity. He notched only eight, and just two of those came on the power play.
"It was a little bit frustrating for me not scoring big goals for the team," he said.
Nagy, whom the Coyotes acquired from St. Louis in the Keith Tkachuk trade in 2001, added he's eager to face Phoenix three times this season.
"That's going to be interesting," he said. "I'm looking forward to those games."
Here's some stuff on why Ladislav Nagy ended up in Wayne Gretzky's doghouse back in November and ended up being a healthy scratch. The Coyotes were playing Minnesota and were on a power play. Nagy coughed up the puck to Brian Rolston, slashed Rolston in front of the Phoenix bench and then went to the bench for a change. Meanwhile, Rolston and Pascal Dupuis skate up ice on a two-on-one and score a shorthanded goal, putting the Wild up 3-0 in the game. The Great One was, to put it mildly, ticked. Nagy was a healthy scratch the next game.
The play is at about the 1:02 mark of the highlights below.
It's about time. The Stars finally have a Slovak on the roster. This immediately makes Nagy my favorite Star for the day.
Seriously, I think this is a good trade. The Stars needed some scoring and some scoring on the left side was preferable. Nagy fits the bill. He's got lots of skill and has proven he score in the league. I am not too concerned about his playoff track record. His last playoff series was in 2002, when he was 22-years-old. Not going to read too much into that.
As for the price of a first rounder and Mathias Tjarnqvist, the draft pick is the bigger issue. Obviously, Tjarnqvist was an odd-man out for the most part. He's been waived twice and got into the lineup when injuries hit. He had some good games and hopefully he will find a role in Phoenix.
The pick is a tougher call. A first round pick is an expensive price to pay. The Stars do have two picks in the second round and I am sure Armstrong and his scouting staff feel, after looking at the talent that might be available where they would be drafting, that they can get decent value out of the draft even without the first rounder. I haven't really looked into the draft so I have no idea how deep it is, but the Stars would end up with their usual pick in the 20's.
I'm sure Army factored all that into the mix and he opted to go for Nagy. I don't have a problem with it. Giving up the pick is a risk, but that's a risk you have to take if you think your team is good enough to make a playoff run. It may pay off and it may not. Only one team gets to celebrate at the end of season, so a lot of teams end up making moves that don't pay off. That's a risk you take sometimes.
I think if healthy and playing well this team can compete and possibly make a good playoff run. Adding Nagy gives them a little more offensive zip, which is something they needed. You bring Brenden Morrow back into the mix when he's recovered from the wrist injury and - with a full lineup - the forward lines look pretty good. It's a deep bunch that will allow Dave Tippett to roll four lines and absorb any injuries that come along over the long grind of the playoffs.
I guess somebody must have seen my post about Saturday's game being boring. Sunday's game was anything but boring. It was agonizing at times with those three goal leads shrinking to one goal leads at times. The goaltending issues drags on for a few more days. I am not sure what Dave Tippett will do as far as the Detroit game Wednesday. He seems to have the Midas touch right now as far as making the right moves in that department, so we'll see what he does. Anyway, it was another two points and they are now 8-2-1 n the last 11. The Avs are fading out of the picture.
First, I think it's a bit early to say who might be an imposing a first round match-up. The deadline is still a couple weeks away and who knows where any team is going to stand as far as injuries. Maybe when the season is drawing closer to the end you can have a better idea. Perhaps there might be a team that looks better than another.
Second, I am not sure the Northwest Division champion, which would be the Stars opponent if they finished sixth, would be such a delightful match-up. That's especially true if it were Calgary or Vancouver. Let's not forget those are pretty good teams with very good goaltending. If it's Vancouver let's hope Tippett has a game plan that involves more than Cowlishaw's plan of relying on Roberto Luongo choking in his first playoff series.
Third, and most important, I don't think where you finish it that big a deal. There isn't that huge a difference between No. 1 and No. 8 anymore. That's parity. You can argue that there was a degree of parity before the salary cap, but there's more of it now. So, it's less about whom you are playing and more about how you are playing. The bottom line is you probably aren't going to be that much superior or that much inferior to the team you end up playing, and it will all come down to who does the better job of doing the things you need to win games.
A good win for the Stars today as far as getting two points. That's the bottom line these days. Style points don't do you much good when it comes to the standings. Overall, it was a boring game. For all that press about the "Fighting Ducks" I was expecting a little bit more intensity out there from Anaheim. The Ducks were a little lackluster I thought. Still, after the last three games against Anaheim it was good to see the Stars knock them off.
Suddenly the race in the Pacific Division gets interesting. And don't forget those Sharks are still a factor as well. I still don't worry about where the Stars finish as long as it is in the top eight and they are relatively healthy going into the playoffs and playing well.
Excellent game for Mike Smith. Dave Tippett had a hunch and Smitty made Tippett look smart. I thought Smith's performance in the first period was key. He was very good in the third period as well.
Does Smith start Sunday? Tippett wasn't saying. Haven't we been down this road before? Turco has a rough game or two. Smith has a good game or two There's talk about who is going to start the next game. I guess it makes things interesting for Game No. 56.
With the Ducks rolling into town this weekend, here are a couple of articles on their team philosophy on fighting. They are the league leader in fighting majors this season.
Leading the fight brigade is the heavyweight Parros, the sophomore NHL enforcer second in the league with 13 fighting majors, followed by teammates Shane O’Brien at 11, Shawn Thornton at nine and Travis Moen at eight. Sean O’Donnell, Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin can also go if need be, but with Parros and the boys taking care of things, they really don’t need to this season.
Are the Ducks today’s version of the Broad Street Bullies?
"It’s the reincarnation, eh? I think it’s great," said Parros. "There’s guys on this team that are willing to step up on every line. Everyone that’s out there is willing to protect each other. We’re team tough and we’re physically imposing.
"I think it’s a great combination and obviously we can play the game quite well. It’s the first time I’ve been on a team like this."
Parros, as the club heavyweight, is the face of that team toughness. And he’s hard to miss on highlight films with his self-described porn star moustache.
"Very powerful and manly," is how Parros described it.
Big win last night and a great way to start off this key stretch of seven of eight at home. I guess the big question out of last night was the play of Marty Turco. Was it fatigue? Maybe. Maybe not. I lean towards the idea that he could use some time off. If it was fatigue he's got a chance to rest up here since the Stars don't play again until Saturday. Perhaps he just had a bad night. That happens too. All goalies have bad nights. They all have more than one over the course of a long season. We'll see how he is going forward. I know a lot of people hit the panic button every time he has a bad outing, but to me it's one game in a long season. He's still a big reason this team is sitting in a excellent shape as far as a playoff spot and that's been no easy task considering the injuries this season.
The Ducks won round one of the home-and-home series with the Sharks last night. Anaheim built a 6-1 lead won 7-4. Stars are now three points behind San Jose, which is 2-4-1 in its last seven games. They play again tonight in San Jose. It's a big game for the Sharks.
There is an article in the Buffalo News this morning about Matthew Barnaby reflecting on his future because of this concussion that has kept him out of action for a few weeks now. There's been an issue that has caused him to lose vision in his left eye. In fact, this vision issue popped up three times after fights this season. That's the reason for Barnaby wondering about what is next as far as his career.
"I'm frustrated that I'm not in there," Barnaby told the News. "At the same time, I'm reflecting. You don't want to reflect because you don't want it to be over, but I have to do what's best for my family whether it's playing or not playing. It's something we have to decide. They have a big say."
That wasn't the way the Stars needed to end the road trip. It was just a lackluster game all the way around. Missed chances, a soft goal against, two too many men on the ice penalties that led to one goal against and cost them a goal. That's not a recipe for success.
I guess you can spin the road trip few of different ways. The two wins over San Jose were huge, but they bookended it with disappointing games in Anaheim and St. Louis. I thought they had a nice little run going the other day, but a loss to St. Louis, a look at the standings and I still see some issues.
The end result was a 2-2-0 trip. That's how I look at it. It comes down to wins, losses and points. Since the break the Stars have picked up no points on the Sharks, both teams have five. Minnesota and Calgary have picked up three on the Stars and Vancouver has picked up one.
They are still are still closer to the seventh and eight place teams than the fifth place Sharks. That still concerns me a bit. It concerns me because there is still a chance that if a team like Edmonton gets hot, and Calgary and Vancouver continue to play well, the Stars could get sucked into that scramble for the final playoff spots if they don't put together a good stretch of wins and losses. Sure, they are 5-2-1 in their last eight. But that followed a streak of three straight losses.
This next set of games, where they play seven of eight and nine of 12 at home, will be key. Tuesday's game against Minnesota will be big. The Wild trail the Stars by two points. Saturday it's another game against the Ducks. Sunday it's Colorado, which is one of those teams trying to get back into the top eight in the West. The it's Detroit and San Jose and a road game in Minnesota. Then it's Anaheim again and Vancouver leading up to the trade deadline.
A good win for the Stars last night and now they are on what they've been need for a while -- a nice little run. They've won five of seven games and have points in six of seven. They've put more distance between themselves and Colorado and Edmonton and they've gained some ground on the Sharks and are still within striking distance of the Ducks.
I am not all that caught up in whether they win the division. It hasn't done them much good the last few times they won it. The playoffs were disappointing. And that's what this season will be all about. It will come down to how they do in the playoffs. I'll be more interested in how they are playing and which team they will end up playing in the first round. Where they end up isn't as important as long as they are in the tournament. This little run has helped create distance between them and the current playoff wannabes.
Still, taking two games in San Jose should be a big boost, especially after the loss in Anaheim. The Stars have had the upper hand on the Sharks this season. The Sharks have some issues, especially on the blue line. The Ducks, well, that's been a different story for the Stars.
Two points in St. Louis will be make this an excellent road trip. Then they play seven of the next eight at home with some more good tests including games against the Ducks and Sharks, and a tilt against the Red Wings. Lots of good stuff as the trade deadline approaches.
Got an email from FHMOnline.com letting me know that Marty Turco and some other NHL players are now bloggers at their fine site. You can find Marty, Marian Hossa, Ryan Getzlaf, Martin Havlat, Patrik Elias, Jeremy Roenick and others at FHMOnline.com/nhl.
I read Marty's blog, checked in on a few others and then moved on to other, more visually interesting areas on the site. Marty is supposed to be updating about once a week.
