One big game on the trip down and one to go. It's going to be tough to top last night's game, which was one of the better tilts of the season.
Throw in the comeback from 3-0, add that it was against Detroit and mix in that it came at the Joe and you get a great win for the Stars. Of course, the bottom line it was a big two points. But I have to say it was nice to see them get over the Detroit hump. I thought the Stars had played them well this season, but usually they ended up cracking in the game. It was nice to see the Stars make the Red Wings crack for once in once this season. I'll admit that I thought Detroit had this one in hand. Coming back against Phoenix is one thing. Doing it against Detroit is another. It was impressive.
So was Mike Smith. I didn't see the big deal in Smith getting the start last night. If the Stars are preparing him to possibly play in the postseason he's got to get starts in games like this. It was a back-to-back situation with two big games and against two top teams and you'd think they were going to give each goalie a start. He was great from the third period on in this game.
Another big game for Mike Ribeiro too. He's simply been superb here over the past couple weeks.
It is kind of interesting that the second game of this little back-to-back is the one generating all the attention. This month will go down as the biggest as far as traffic in Andrew's history. One reasons is the month started just a couple of days after the trade deadline. The main reason is the Jordin Tootoo-Stephane Robidas-Mike Modano stuff. I am sure the traffic for today will be high due to tonight's Stars-Predators game.
There was a lot of talk after the last one. There some talk heading into this one. It generates interest for both the Stars and Predators, and that is not a bad thing. Is the game going to live up to the hype? I don't know. It should be a good game. The crowd will be into it. It will have a playoff atmosphere to it because both team need the points and see this as a test heading into the playoffs against a possible first round opponent. Are there going to be a lot of fights and stuff? I am not expecting it, but you never know. We'll see how it plays out.
But to get you in the mood here's a YouTube tribute to Jordin Tootoo.
It's a big game tonight in Detroit. It's a key two points for the Stars if they hope to catch Anaheim, which won against last night to extend its lead to six points over the Stars.
I am not going to get all caught up in the Stars' recent woes against the Red Wings. The Stars have lost all three games against the Red Wings this season, but they've been close games. I am not going to hit the panic button if they come up short in this one. At the same time, I am not going break out the champagne if they win it. If the two teams meet in the playoffs, all the regular season stuff goes out the window. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are a completely different animal. The two teams match up pretty well. It would be a tough series that could go either way.
I flipped around last night watching the Red Wings Predators, Ducks-Blue Jackets and Flames-Wild. I spent most of my time watching Detroit-Nashville. The Red Wings looked very good in what was a playoff style game. It wasn't just the intensity, but the style of play. It was a tightly played game and Detroit played it very well. Nashville doesn't seem to thrive well in these type games, which requires them to manufacture some goals instead of popping in a three, four or five in a wider open game. That's why they struggle against the Stars at times. The Stars usually play a playoff style game, which is a grind it out contest that may end up 2-1 or 3-2.
The Flames won their fifth straight game. Their wins included Detroit, Nashville and two road wins over Minnesota, which was its nine-game winning streak end. The Flames have looked very good lately. Good luck to the No. 1 seed against the Flames, who are close to wrapping up the No. 8 seed.
I'll give the Ducks credit. They are on the road and playing some teams out of the mix in Chicago and Columbus, but they are getting the job done. They have gotten four of four points in those two games and are forcing the Stars and Sharks to win to keep pace. San Jose hosts Phoenix tonight.
Not much to say about last night's game. It was another win over the Coyotes and two more points. An important two points. The first half of the game was a little dull, but the second half was pretty entertaining. The Stars got the job done.
Things are coming together nicely as the season winds down. I think the forward lines are coming along well. I thought Steve Ott played well and his return just adds to the depth, which should be a real strength in the postseason. Mike Ribeiro is just on a roll right now. Mike Modano's playing well. Brenden Morrow is getting up to speed. Things just seem to be falling into place.
After three of the last five games against Phoenix, I am looking forward to Friday and Saturday and the games against the Red Wings and Predators. Those are going to be high intensity, playoff type games. There is a lot at stake for all the teams. The points are important to all three teams. The Stars trying to get over the hump against the Wings, who have beaten them three times. And then the much anticipated return to Nashville and some rehashing of the Tootoo-Robidas-Modano stuff. I have a feeling that might just be a good hockey game without a lot of the extracurricular stuff. It's too important a game. But you never know. That's why it will be worth watching.
Anaheim is at Chicago tonight. Game time is 7:30 pm CT.
For all of you folks who wonder why Doug Armstrong will go out and get a guy like Nolan Baumgartner one year or a Lubomir Sekeras in another, this is it. You can never have enough defensemen, especially when you start losing them for what ever reason. It's insurance and having Baumgartner around is paying off because you have a guy with NHL experience stepping in to play when you are three guys short on the blue line. Having a quality prospect like Niklas Grossman, who is just about ready to make the jump to the NHL, helps too.
I am tired of seeing the Coyotes. This will be the third time in the last five games. Of course, if the Stars get another two points and creep closer to the Ducks I guess it will be hard to complain.
The league has signed signed a contract extension with NBC. It will the same revenue sharing formula along with a new flexible scheduling component that will allow NBC to carry the best game on that particular Sunday and not stuck with two sub-500 teams. Here's the explanation from the press release at NHL.com:
NBC will be able to select from a minimum of three games scheduled on Sunday afternoons. Thirteen days prior to the scheduled games, NBC, in conjunction with the NHL, will select one of those games as the "Game of the Week" to be broadcast during the NBC window. The other two games will revert back to the team's regional carrier (not to be televised during NBC's broadcast window).
I could see someone losing their team's game on TV if it can't be rescheduled outside the NBC broadcast window within 13 days. I'll do more checking and see if that is the case.
Ducks lost to Detroit tonight in pretty good game. Final score 1-0. Pavel Datsyuk with the only goal off a rebound right on the lap of J-S Giguere. Red Wings tied with Nashville at 103 points. Ducks hold steady at 100 and the Stars with a chance to close to within two points with a win Tuesday night against the Coyotes. So can the Sharks, who host the Kings Tuesday. I'll be honest. I never thought the Stars would get back in it and have a shot at catching the Ducks. It just adds to all the standings intrigue heading down the stretch.
It's fun watching the standings right now in both conferences. It shifts with just about every game involving a contender. I am not too concerned about whom the Stars draw in the first round. The way I look at it is they are going to have to beat a good team. And they are all good teams.
I don't buy that they can't beat Detroit or Anaheim in a playoff series. I am not convinced that getting Minnesota, Vancouver, San Jose, Calgary or Nashville would make their life any easier. Vancouver and Minnesota have been playing as well as anybody lately. A mere seven points separate the No.1 seed from the No. 7 seed right now. Calgary is a few points back and they would be a formidable No. 8 seed.
I just don't see a favorite and I don't see a team that if they make the Stanley Cup Final, I'll say that surprised me.
That was a great game last night. The ending was a bit of disappointment, but the Stars got a point out of it and they played well. It was intense, physical and came down to a few key elements of the game. The goaltending at both ends was excellent. The Ducks came out hard and the Stars matched them. It was a playoff type game. Good stuff.
Some more good stuff was Mike Modano talking about the renowned heckler at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. BaD Radio is on the road trip with the Stars and got a some clips of the heckler, who is rallying behind Mike because he lost the "C." That means the heckler is dumping on Brenden Morrow. Below is a link to audio of Modano talking to Bob and Dan about the heckler. It includes a couple of audio clips of the heckler. In one he tells Mike to "tell them you want the "C" back. In another he tells Marty Turco to tell Morrow, who is sitting next to him on the bench, that it has been all downhill since he got the "C. That it's bad karma. You can't diss a legend. It's great stuff.
Here's some more on the Ducks' sluggish play. This is part of the Los Angeles Times' game story from last night's 2-1 loss in Phoenix.
The Ducks were supposedly rested and refocused. Yet they only put 23 shots on Curtis Joseph, who had a relatively easy game.
"We worked hard all week on a couple of things and it seemed like we had people with no legs tonight, for whatever reason," Carlyle said. "We didn't have the jump."
Selanne offered a reason as he likened their lengthy intense practices Monday and Tuesday to a "mini-training camp."
"This team is built through hard work and a good forecheck [system]," Selanne said. "We need fresh legs and energy. When we don't have that, we're are in trouble. It's as simple as that.
"I can only speak for myself. I didn't have nothing. That's the worst I've felt in two years."
Carlyle, who said Monday's long practice was punishment for their effort against the Kings, disagreed.
"That's an excuse," he said. "We didn't do any work yesterday other than have a little bit of a bike ride."
Whatever they're feeling now, the Ducks' reality is that they're in a dogfight for a division they've led all season.
"We can't control what they're going to do," Niedermayer said. "We can only control what we're going to do. And our last two efforts haven't been good enough."
I watched both the Ducks and Sharks games last night. The Ducks, whom the Stars play tonight, looked kind of listless for a second straight game. They lost 2-1 in Phoenix. They were down 2-0 in the third and scored late in the game to make it interesting. I would think they'll respond tonight. The Stars are closing in and the Sharks are right on their heels.
San Jose just whipped the Thrashers in Atlanta last night. Final score was 5-1. It was a good win for the Sharks, who had been beating up some lightweights. This time they roughed up a good team that had been hot at home. The trio of Milan Michalek, Joe Thornton and Johanthan Cheechoo is on a roll. Those three players have combined for eight goals and 10 assists over the last two games. Oh yeah, Bill Guerin scored again. After scoring no goals in his first six games as a Shark, Billy G. now has six goals in the last six games.
Mark Bell helped the Sharks add injury to insult Thursday in their 5-1 mugging of the Atlanta Thrashers.
After Bill Guerin scored to stretch the Sharks' lead to 4-1, the Thrashers tried to shift the momentum.
Coach Bob Hartley yanked goalie Kari Lehtonen in favor of Johan Hedberg. Then on the ensuing faceoff, Jon Sim challenged Bell. Bell, not wanting to scrap with a three-goal lead, declined Sim's initial invitation to fight.
"Then he slashed my stick," Bell said. "I said, `What are you doing?' He said, `We're going.' I said, `Are you serious?' `Yeah.' So I dropped my gloves. I called his bluff. I've played against him before, so I knew he was probably going to run around a little bit."
Bell ended the bout - as well as Sim's night - with a punch that broke an orbital bone.
Weird game last night. Kings goals in the last minute of the first and first minute of the third. All that Stars power play time in the second period. Overall, it just seemed like an awkward game. I thought Mike Ribeiro was the best player on the ice followed by Kings forward Dustin Brown. I like Brown, especially since he is what I would consider someone from around where I was born and raised. He's from Ithaca, New York, just up the interstate from my hometown of Binghamton.
The bottom line is last night's game was two points and it sets the stage for a big game Friday in Anaheim. Ducks are in Phoenix tonight, so we'll see where it stands points-wise after that. Right now Ducks have a five-point lead and both teams have nine games to go. Can't forget the Sharks, who keep winning too. They are four points back with eight games left. They play in Atlanta tonight.
On the subject of the Ducks, they are getting healthy. Pronger, Marchant and May are all practicing. Not sure if any will be back for the Dallas game. May might play tonight in Phoenix. But they should all be back starting next week for the final couple weeks of the season.
It hasn't been a good season for Todd Fedoruk. Back when we was with the Ducks he had to undergo facial surgery after getting injured in a fight with Minnesota's Derek Boogaard. Last night he ended up in the hospital after a fight with Colton Orr of the Rangers. Fedoruk is said to be doing OK. Here's the YouTube clip of last night's fight.
I usually don't link to posts on the message board, but coming off the sniping between Dallas and Nashville this one seems worthy. It's one guy's idea of what a chat room full of NHL execs might look like. It's funny. And no it is not an actual transcript. Warning. There is some bad language. You can read it here.
I thought four to six games for Jordin Tootoo and he got five games. So I have no problems with it. I do find it interesting that his first game will be back is the March 31st tilt against the Stars in Nashville. That should make it interesting.
It would be easy to jump on the bandwagon and trash Nashville these days, especially around these parts. I could start with Jordin Tootoo, who should get a decent suspension for his punch on Stephane Robidas. It was a vicious blow to the head by Tootoo, who actually went on the offensive to allegedly defend himself. Four to six games would be appropriate.
It would be easy to pick on some of the issues surrounding the Nashville franchise, which have been well documented. The lack of corporate support. Chronically low attendance until just recently. The possibility of the franchise eventually moving. I'll pass on that too.
I could dump on the lack of any recognition inside the building in Nashville when Mike Modano set a U.S.-born record. I am not going to go there, because that whole incident sort of made me chuckle this morning. Sometimes I read things, think of a few other things, roll my eyes, chuckle and move on to something else.
"Their owner, management, public relations people, coaching staff – I think they all failed the game," Lites said. "It's because of people like Mike Modano that they even have a team in Nashville. He has helped pioneer the game in the South, and for him to be treated like that in a milestone moment ... it's just a horrible thing."
I got a kick out of that for a couple of reasons. First, didn't Mike, just before the lockout, suggest that the league had about five too many teams. "Maybe five of the teams shouldn't be here. Nashville, Carolina, they jumped the gun too soon," Modano was quoted as saying in the summer of 2004.
I am willing to bet there are some folks in Nashville who haven't forgotten that comment. I know some haven't forgotten about it. A Modano fan wandered on to the message boards over the Predators official site to inquire about possibly getting a ticket stub from the historic night.
"With Mike Modano talking about Nashville during the lockout you won't find much support for him here," was the reply from a Nashville fan.
So much for his reputation as a pioneer in Nashville.
Another thing that made me chuckle was thinking of the Stars creating the Havoc Fanatics whose job requirements, according to the official site, are: "Cheering on their favorite team like never before and ready to work their butts off to make the American Airlines Center the place where no visiting teams want to play!"
You want to make the AAC a tougher building in which to play, but when it gets rough in another building it's a horrible thing. Sorry, I couldn't help but chuckle. Not as much as much as Barry Trotz explaining Tootoo's defensive maneuver on Robidas, but I still get a kick out of stuff like this. I bet you some of that atmosphere created by Nashville fans, who can be boisterous at times, was in somebody's mind when the Havoc Fanatics idea was hatched. That group wasn't created to cheer opposing player milestones.
I have another point on the Modano U.S. record not being recognized in Nashville. Jenifer Floyd Engel, talking about the issue on ESPN 103.3 this morning, said the league should have stepped in and made sure that the record was recognized if Mo set it in an opposing building. Is it an official NHL record? I can't find the record listed in the NHL Official Guide and Record Book. There is no listing of top scorers from this country or that country. Obviously someone keeps track of it, but I am not sure it is an official league record. That's not meant to diminish the accomplishment, so spare the comments.
Of course, with the Tootoo-Robidas incident, the Modano stuff and Lites trashing the Nashville organization, a Stars-Predators first round series would be fun. Heck, Saturday the 31st's game in Nashville should be a good one.
Stephane Robidas is going to be out at least a week it appears. He was evaluated today. He is out with a concussion and will be evaluated again in a week or so.
Interesting discussion on TSN about the Robidas-Tootoo incident last night. Here's the link. I think you have to be registered at TSN.
Here's the Nashville broadcast of the Tootoo-Robidas incident. You get a much different spin on it than you got from the Stars' broadcast last night. No mention of a sucker punch. They mentioned the Mike Modano stick swing, which I noticed, but didn't think was that bad. They thought Daley was a third man in, which I didn't see as a big issue. Everyone was obviously concerned for Robidas' well-being.
Interesting blurb on CBC's web site concerning the Jordin Tootoo punch on Stephane Robidas:
CBC's Scott Morrison has learned that NHL senior vice president Colin Campbell will conduct a hearing with Tootoo to determine if supplemental discipline is warranted.
As of late Saturday night, Campbell would not say whether the hearing would take place in person or over the phone. The former, a meeting at the league offices, usually guarantees a suspension of four or more games.
The incident is the latest in a series of head attacks in the NHL, beginning with the Ottawa Senators Chris Neil hit on Buffalo's Chris Drury, a shoulder to the head hit, which was deemed legal. A while later, New Jersey's Cam Janssen levelled Toronto's Tomas Kaberle with a late shoulder to the head, which earned him a three-game suspension. And last week, the Islanders Chris Simon was suspended for a minimum 25 games for a violent chop of the stick to the jaw of Rangers Ryan Hollweg.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this as far as any disciplinary action against Tootoo. Robidas has a concussion and will be evaluated in Dallas later today.
I am not one to gripe about officiating, but last night's game was a mess at times in that regard. Some of those calls were iffy. Somebody has to be impeded or the offender has to gain an advantage on some of these obstruction calls or you have to wonder where the penalty is. The questionable calls went both ways last night, but the bottom line is the Stars made the most of their power play opportunities. That's a big reason they won.
With no Kipper in goal last night for the Flames it was more of a battle between Marty Turco and Flames captain Jarome Iginla. Marty had several nice stops on Iginla and the save on the breakaway was huge.
Jussi Jokinen is on a roll. If you throw out Ladislav Nagy's points, he's fourth on the team in scoring and is now tops in plus/minus now that Jaroslav Modry is gone.
Niklas Hagman continues to show no signs of slowing down as he puts up career numbers. He's tied for 3rd on the team in goals.
The line with Jokinen, Hagman and Jere Lehtinen has been great.
The Flames' struggles on the road continue and they need to continue to look in the rearview mirror at Colorado, which is within eight points and has a game in hand. Calgary has a three-game homestand coming up, but it won't be an easy one. The WIld, Red Wings and Predators are on the docket.
Congratulations to Mike Modano on No. 500. I'd had to say the anticipation level went up every time he was on the ice. It went up every time the puck was on his stick. That made last night's game special. He looked a little emotional there on the bench after he finally hit the milestone. Great stuff.
A guy who is really playing well right now and is sort of lost in the shadows of all the Modano attention is Jussi Jokinen. He's been a point-a-game guy over the last 16 games. He produced playing center and produced while playing some wing recently. He is just producing.
I don't have a problem with this new draft format, which is outlined here by Bob McKenzie of TSN. With the cap induced parity and the tight standings it is producing these days, giving some weight to playoff performance in the drafting order isn't a bad idea.
Somebody e-mailed me saying that it would be better news for the Stars if the Pens had moved to KC. There would be realignment, the Stars could get out of the Pacific, we'd all get to escape all those late starts on the West Coast, and the team's travel situation would improve. That's true, but I would hate to see that come at the expense of Pittsburgh losing a team. That is a good hockey market. A better market than KC. The league as a whole is better off with a team in Pittsburgh.
The new arena, which the Penguins desperately needed, could be ready for the 2009-10 season.
As somebody who grew up in upstate New York and lived along the Pennsylvania border, I always followed the Pittsburgh teams closely as a kid and that included the Penguins, Pirates and Steelers. Heck, I can even vaguely remember the Pittsburgh Condors of the of the old ABA.
It would have been a shame to see the Pens pull out and move someplace else. Pittsburgh has great fans, the attendance is good and so are the TV ratings in that market. Leaving that market for Kansas City or Las Vegas would have been a shame.
As for Kansas City, it will have to focus on another team for possible relocation. Nashville has some issues. There's always expansion, which I don't think the league needs in the near future.
It was nice to see Mike Modano get a little wound up during yesterday's game. It added some spice to the game. He's really come on the last few games and he's looked very good the last few games. That's a good sign. They are going to need him at the highest level possible in the playoffs.
Not much to say about the debut of the "HAVOC FANATICS." I'll put it in the work in progress category. I am not sure if you can attribute any perceived added energy in the building to that added element or the fact that the Kings tried to hammer the Stars physically at times, the Stars pushed back and there were some fireworks. It was also a see-saw game. That added to the atmosphere.
I do wonder if the creation of the "HAVOC FANATICS" may be, in part, due to a possible first round match up with the Red Wings. We know what the atmosphere is like when the Red Wings are in the building. All those Detroit fans don their Red Wings gear, make a lot of noise and can almost take over the place. Perhaps an attempt to counter the Red Wings fan factor? Just a thought.
Chris Simon gets a minimum of 25 games for the stick swing to the face of Ryan Hollweg. According to the CP, "Simon is suspended a minimum of 25 games, including Saturday night's game against Washington plus the 14 that remain in the 2006-07 regular season. If the Islanders do not qualify for the 2007 playoffs, or play fewer than 10 playoff games in the 2007 playoffs, Simon would serve additional games at the start of the 2007-08 regular season to satisfy the minimum term of the suspension."
Good win last night. Excellent game by Marty Turco, who came up big. He doesn't make a couple of those stops early it could have been a much different game. I'd talk about the different defensive pairings but they became a moot point because Mattias Norstrom went out with the injury early. Thought Ladislav Nagy had a better game, but I think the key here is consistency.
The Kings and Flyers are next. You'd think that's four points, but you can't take anything for granted these days. Both those teams have found ways to beat some good teams over the last month. The Stars just need to keep getting points and we'll see how the standings end up. I am not going to fret too much about where they stand on a daily basis. It's too tight with too many teams. Catching Anaheim is going to be tough. It's going to be somewhere between fifth and eighth, which means they are likely to get one of Nashville, Detroit, Anaheim or the Northwest Division winner.
I am not one who buys this theory that the Stars will luck out if they finish sixth and get the top dog in the Northwest. Vancouver, Calgary or Minnesota would all be formidable teams. I think Vancouver may be, along with Anaheim, my favorite going in right now.
The nice thing about the early start to the game last night is that I got to catch most of the Canucks-Sharks game, which Vancouver won in overtime. It resembled a playoff game. Vancouver looks very, very good right now. They have a big game in Anaheim tomorrow night. That should be a fun one to watch too because both teams are on good rolls right now.
That was a clunker. I thought they would have put out a better effort than that, especially coming off the San Jose loss. They were flat outplayed the first 40 minutes. You can't play just 20 minutes and expect to get points on most nights. It was a valiant effort in the third though.
Can't think of too many positives. Goaltending? So-so. The play in front of Mike Smith? Not so good. Special teams? Lost that battle.
It will be interesting to see how they respond in Columbus Friday night and what kind of lines Dave Tippett rolls out. I thought the Conner, Modano and Eriksson trio worked in St. Louis. Some of the changes seemed to work in the third, but that was probably due in large part to the team's overall desperation level.
I watched Phoenix play Anaheim the other night. Gretzky had Mathias Tjarnqvist chasing Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne around most of the night. Tjarnqvist did a decent job. He seems to have found a role in Phoenix right now. Can't say the same for Ladislav Nagy here in Dallas. He had a rough game Thursday as evidenced by his sitting a lot in the third period. He's just seems to be struggling to find his place here. There's still time, but it is something that I am starting to watch with some concern.
As for the standings, the only thing that has caught my attention is that Colorado has gotten on a little bit of a roll here and made up some ground. Colorado has won five straight, but would have to go on a remarkable run to finish out the season and hope Dallas, Calgary, Minnesota or San Jose plays under .500 the rest of the way to have a chance of getting in to the tournament. Not likley, but still possible I guess.
It's funny how things can change in a few days. There was a lot of giddiness about this team last week, especially after the Tampa Bay game. A couple of clunkers, including a 4-0 loss to the Sharks and it appears the sky is falling again. I looked at the Columbus game and the San Jose game as the Stars running out of gas after a lot of hockey in a short amount of time. The Stars played a good first period against San Jose, but the Sharks scoring a goal on their only shot was a killer and it went downhill from there.
It's good to see the Stars characterize the loss as embarrassing or unacceptable, but over the course of a long season you are going to have games like that and times they are going to be the result of scheduling. It's just reality. They key is shaking it off and bouncing back. We'll see how they do in St. Louis and Columbus.
I think the one disturbing trend (and I am more inclined to look at trends than over analyze one game) is that whether the team plays a great game (Tampa Bay) or a dud (San Jose) they still struggle to put pucks in the net. That's my concern right now. That has to be the focus moving forward.
It looks like Krys Barch could be out for a week or so. It appears he took a puck off the foot before he got in the fight with Mark Bell in yesterday's game. The Star-Telegram reported this morning it is a broken toe. He could miss 7-10 days. If you watch a replay of the fight it looks like he is limping going into it, so that is the reason he was limping after it.
Is it just me or does anyone else find it strange that no matter how this team plays lately the games seem to end up 1-1 and going to overtime? Four of the last five have gone this way. You have to like the ability to keep the puck out of their net. But at the same time you have to be concerned about their inability to put pucks in the other team's net.
The Stars were nowhere near the level they were Tuesday against Tampa Bay, but even in that game they still got one goal through regulation. They were sloppy last night at times and had one goal at the end of regulation.
It's nice to see Ed Belfour playing well. He was superb last night. The goaltending battle between Eddie and Mike Smith helped make that an entertaining game.
HItch is on the warpath with the Blue Jackets, so I am expecting a strong game from Columbus tonight effort-wise.
Saw this on Kukla's Korner: USA Today has a trade diary from Brian Burke, who really didn't do much at the deadline other than add some depth by picking up Brad May. It's some good stuff. Here's the entry on deadline day, which includes a mention of Mattias Norstrom:
We were in on several trades. We offered a first and a fourth for Bill Guerin, but the Blues liked the Sharks' deal better. (Los Angeles GM) Dean Lombardi talked to me about how Mattias Norstrom wanted to stay in southern California and I offered him a first-, second- and third-round pick, but I now believe he never intended to trade him to us. The Anaheim-Los Angeles rivalry is real. We looked at Bertuzzi, but the price was too high. I wanted to make a deal, but I stuck to draft picks. I told our younger players that I wouldn't trade them and I kept my word. But I did get May. He's a great character guy with a sunny disposition.
Speaking of Kukla's Korner, I want to thank Paul Kukla for the plug of little old Andrew's on NHL.com.
