7:27 PM – Kovalchuk is going to the Devils. My point below obviously only works if Greene isn’t part of the trade…. haha.

If it is indeed the Devils – PICK UP ANDY GREENE! Whoever gets the golden ticket of setting up Kovalchuk on the power play (Tobias Enstrom’s gig), watch out.

7:19 PM – Team coming in 10 minutes. Stay tuned. Process of elimination + speculation = the Devils.

7: 05 PM – No Rangers or Bruins, per Bobby Mac. Also, Flyers beat writer reporting they are out too. Great scoop Kypreos!

7:00 PM – Bobby McKenzie weighs in – Kovalchuk is being dealt tonight. Exciting stuff! I want to head out to the gym but can’t miss an announcement, hoping something comes soon…

6:45 PM update – Kovalchuk being traded to an Eastern Conference team, per Kevin Allen – Kypreos things Philly. Kypreos isn’t the most noteworthy of sources, but he is somewhat connected.

Per Kevin Allen (USA Today writer) – Kovalchuk deal going down TONIGHT.

Cody Hodgson is playing tonight.

Cory Schneider owners, read this. Dallas is after him and Halak. I speculated a few weeks ago that Dallas and Vancouver could be good trade partners in a Schneider trade. It also helps that Schneider played his best game as a pro in Dallas earlier this season.

Japers Rink has identified a stat that highlights the inconsistency of Jose Theodore. Pretty amazing – in Theo’s 31 starts this year, his save percentage has been between 9.00 and .919 just once…

Dobber delivers his weekly Thursday goods over at Puck Daddy. Also, for those of you in the Vancouver area, Puck Daddy is going to be at Malone’s on Feb 21st to watch the Sweden/Finland game, along with The KurtenBloggers. I may make an appearance as well.

Brian Elliott is starting B2B tonight against the Canucks.

Don Waddell leaked his contract offer to Kovalchuk today, in a move that reeks of damage control. I feel for Waddell here – Kovalchuk obviously likes Atlanta, but he isn’t confident that the team will be able to stay in the city for the next 10-12 years, thus the high demands. Waddell’s last offer was over $101 million on a 12 year deal.

I think Kovalchuk ends up signing somewhere else for around $8-9 million per season. He just made the monster demands to justify leaving Atlanta. There is no chance he goes to the KHL. None at all.

Follow me on twitter! I’ll be on there a lot as the trade deadline approaches.

Warning – DobberHockey Night in Toronto… SOLD OUT. I may make another two tickets available in a month or so, but I have to hold them for my writers for now. The lowdown: $35 puts you in a luxury suite at the Marlies game on March 21 (Sunday). I will be in that suite with you, as well as several of the writers here at DobberHockey (Brent Lemon and Steve “Notch” Johnson will be there, and other writers still need to confirm with me). The game will be on CBC. Food is included. Bottom line – you talk fantasy hockey with the experts over beer and wings. If you like doing that and live in the area and can make it to the game, buy here (details will then appear in your downloads). If you don’t like beer, wings and talking fantasy hockey, than click here.

The Sens are on fire right now! Some numbers…

Daniel Alfredsson potted two goals last night, and has 13 points in his last 10 games. Will he ever slow down? It seems each of the past two or three years everyone is expecting an offensive decline from Alfy, but he has yet to show any signs of age.

Jason Spezza also potted two, making it his 7^th straight game with at least a goal. He added an assist as well. If you were able to buy low on him last month as he was battling injury, kudos. Spezza is an elite talent. His second goal tonight was a thing of beauty – absolute snipe over Ryan Miller.

Erik Karlsson had an assist on Alfredsson's game winning goal. I recently traded for him in one of my keeper leagues (full deal was Zajac + Benn for Karlsson + Franzen). He is logging heavy minutes for the Sens and looks like a veteran out there. His decision making and poise with the puck is already elite.

Jason Pominville is quietly turning his season around. He had two helpers last night, and now has 11 points in his last 10 games. He had only three points in the eight games before the stretch of strong play.

The Senators won their 10^th straight games. Brian Elliott was sensational, stopping 34 of 36 shots. Not sure if he is playing again, as the Sens are hosting the Canucks.

Patrik Berglund played 12 minutes and was pointless – goes along with my point in my article today – buy low!

Troy Brouwer made a great play on the Kane goal last night, and is really clicking well on the top line. He is such a smart player and he uses his size so well – his value in Chicago is obviously inflated, but it looks like he may be a long-term fit there. Could hit 30 goals playing with Kane and Toews one day. Heck, he has 17 now, and for the first part of the season wasn't really in an offensive role.

Chicago is so deep at right wing, Marian Hossa played less than 18 minutes and Dustin Byfuglien was under 15. I wonder on how many other teams you would find Hossa third among RW ice time? Oh, and Hossa scored by the way. Right around 0.5 goals per game, and right around a point per game. He should consistently be around that number over the next few seasons.

A question over on the boards – now with Hitchcock gone, who would you take – Rick Nash or Pat Kane? I'd take Kane every single day of the week.

Dave Bolland was pointless in about 13 minutes of ice time last night. It was his first game since November 5^th.

Curtis Glencross had a hat trick last night. He was goalless in seven before the contest against Carolina.

Matt Stajan also scored a goal. He played 14 minutes. Ian White played under 17, and took a bad penalty. The Flames really spread out the ice time against the lowly 'Canes – Iginla saw less than both Hagman and Higgins.

It was bizarre watching Calgary's PP – if someone last year came up to you and said that Calgary's power play would have Kotalik, Higgins, Stajan, Iginla, and Giordano on it, what would you have said?

Jeff Deslauriers, after losing seven straight starts, has won his last two. He shut out the Flyers last night, making 33 saves. It was an absolute snoozer of a game – Philly has so much talent, I just don't get that team. No jump, no creativity, it was really weird to watch. Edmonton fans probably don't want points at this stage of the season (Taylor Hall), but it was a nice win, as Potulny scored the only goal with 16 seconds left in the final frame.

Ray Emery missed the game with a sore groin, and Michael Leighton started in his place.

Ryan Whitney must have heard Team USA might come calling with Paul Martin now out (the likely replacement for Komisarek is Tim Gleason). He played 21 minutes, scored a goal, had five shots on goal, and finished the game plus-2.

If I could hand out gold stickers for a job well done, Jonas Hiller would definitely get one after his gem last night. Stopped 40 shots against Detroit, single-handedly winning the game for the Ducks. If he gets hot, watch out. Actually, if he stays hot, watch out. Hiller has been lights out over his last four starts.

Ken Hitchcock is out! What does this mean? Off the top of my head, this benefits everyone on Columbus, maybe save for Antoine Vermette and RJ Umberger. Both are solid two way forwards, but Hitchcock liked them more for their ability to play strong at both ends of the ice. This will benefit Filatov, as he will assuredly be coming to camp next season. Jakub Voracek and Derick Brassard should also benefit – Hitchcock liked Voracek but never seemed comfortable playing Brassard in any sort of key situation on a regular basis.

As the trade freeze approaches (about a week away), the trade talks around the NHL have started to heat up in a big way. Kovalchuk obviously the biggest name out there – it will be interesting to see if a team takes a risk and trades for him before the Olympics, which would add a paycheck and the potential for injury to the equation.

I always try and create polls that generate even results, and that is what is happening with the latest. As for the question, I think I’d opt with Bolland, mostly because of the situation he is in. I really like Brandon Sutter and he will get a big boost next year with Carolina’s youth movement.

Fantastic article on the differences between the ECHL, AHL, and NHL from a goalie who has played in all three.

The future of Toronto was caught on a man date at the Raptors game last night. Check it out here.

Chris Phillips hits Ryan Miller. Looks unintentional to me, and Phillips isn’t that kind of player:

Jonathan Ericsson with a big hit on Kyle Chipchura. This was Ericsson’s first game back after being benched for poor play. The Wings definitely want him to use his size more. And again, we see a fight after a clean hit:

Interesting video from the other night – Johnny Boychuk learns the ramifications of runing Alex Ovechkin!

Scary clip from last night – Giordano with a big hit on Pitkanen, who ended up cutting Eric Staal with his skate: