Around the League: Season's Greetings

Hockey season started and stuff.

Sorry guys, we really dropped the ball for a while there.

Really though, this season is off to a solid start, and for what its worth, we're coming back to blogging with a vengeance*.  Some points of interest from this young season so far after the jump.



*Vengeance is subject to change.  Make the jump, like a boss.

The Beauty of Twitter in the NHL, Pt.9

Hey guys.

Mike Modano has a Twitter and stuff. Halloween's right around the corner.

Straight up gross. Nobody wants to see Modano's wrinkly old balls.

The Playoff Picture Part II: THE WEST

Will you be seeing your team in the playoffs in just under a month when the NHL concludes its regular season April 10th?

This concludes our two part series looking at the playoff picture.  Part I featured the Eastern Conference and Part II will look at the Western Conference. 

View the Eastern Conference playoff race here.

At a glance, spots 4-11 are likely to switch, but the real battles are going to be between the 7-11 seeds. 

Pens Trade Goligoski; Recieve Neal and Niskanen

Just minutes ago, Penguins GM Ray Shero pulled the trigger to acquire forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen in exchange for defenseman Alex Goligoski. This move helps out Pittsburgh who is in desperate need of help after losing roughly 10 players due to injury within the past month or so. "O" face.

The biggest player in the deal for the Penguins is left winger James Neal who has 21 goals and 18 assists in 59 games. Neal will provide a scoring punch to a team who hasn't been completely healthy in a long time.

In addition to Neal, the Penguins receive Matt Niskanen, who in my opinion is more solid defensively than Goligoski, but lacks the point production that Goligoski brings to the team.

Touch the stars kid.

As for Dallas, Goligoski is a solid puck moving defenseman with a bright future ahead of him, but I really feel like they overpaid on this one. He's having a career season for sure, and he has a good amount of skill, but I just have a bad feeling about the way this trade will pan out for Dallas.

Nonetheless, this is an interesting trade, and it'll be fun to see if the Pens or Stars are looking to make any more moves in the near future.

My instincts say they are.

To Trade, Or Not to Trade: Brad Richards

As we quickly approach the February 31st trade deadline, the Dallas Stars have a lot to think about. Their star, and debatably their best player Brad Richards is nearing the end of his contract, and will thus become a free agent this summer.

As of now, Richards makes upwards of $8 million a season and that number might possibly rise. Because of this, Dallas most likely will not be able to resign him.