Alex Auld, who cleared waivers yesterday, is on re-entry waivers this afternoon. This means that Dallas would be on the hook for half of his salary, which may entice a team to put a claim in.

Slava Kozlov has requested a trade from Atlanta. He is currently on pace for 11 goals and just over 30 points – a far cry from the 76 he posted last season. His offensive numbers should pick up on a new team, especially if he is put in a situation to succeed with good linemates.

Dobber’s weekly Puck Daddy article.

In perhaps the biggest game of the season for the Edmonton Oilers, Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall faced off on Thursday night, as Plymouth and Windsor did battle. Windsor won 6-3, and both players scored a goal. Ryan Ellis had four points and was the first star of the game.

I thought David Krejci was fantastic all tournament long for the Czechs. Definitely their MVP.

Cody Hodgson has looked great with the Brampton Battalion since returning 10 games ago. He has five goals and 10 assists, and is logging heavy minutes in all situations.

Ran into Steve Kouleas on Wednesday night – great guy! We chatted a bit about the games so far, and are in agreement that the Slovakia game will be a cake walk if Canada can play with the same intensity as they did against Russia. The skill level displayed was jaw dropping at times, especially on the four way passing play that ended with Nabokov robbing Rick Nash at the side of the net.

Expect Tampa Bay to be very active at the trade deadline this year. What that means, I have no idea. Perhaps a few veterans will be on the move? More Lecavalier to Montreal rumors? Yes, please! Link to the story here, and it contains a few quotes from Lighting GM Brian Lawton.

I am not surprised Sweden got eliminated in the Olympics. That team was horribly selected. Mattias Weinhandl showed why he has failed to stick in the NHL. Freddie Modin was sluggish and looked out of place. And in the final game last night, they had Sami Pahlsson on as the extra attacker! Give me a break.

Some KHL stuff – Darcy Verot delivers a dirty sucker punch to the face of Nikita Filatov. Verot did something similar against Jaromir Jagr this season as well. This clip is a few weeks old, but I just came across it now.

What kind of player is Verot? In 33 KHL games this season, he has one goal and 347 PIM. Last season his PIM total exceeded 500. Looking at some of his other youtube work – this guy is a goon in every sense of the word.

My predictions for today:

The USA beats Finland in a close, low scoring affair. Both Miller and Kiprusoff shine, but the Americans eventually wear down Finland with their speed and physicality.

If Canada plays a similar game against Slovakia as they did against Russia, they should have no problems winning. Jaroslav Halak represents a challenge to the Canadian attack, as he has been one of the best goalies in the world so far this season, and in a single elimination situation a hot goalie can be the difference. I thought Russia should have started Bryzgalov over Nabokov last night, because with the traffic the Canadians put in front some more size in between the pipes would have helped.

Slovakia has three strong defensemen in Chara, Visnovsky, and Meszaros, but Canada has the depth to take over the game. Before the Russia game, Canada's worst forwards had been Getzlaf and Perry, and both were absolutely dominant all night. Jonathan Toews and Drew Doughty are having coming out parties at the tournament this year as well. Toews simply can do it all at a very high level. Skate, defend, pass, shoot (well, no goals so far), and win faceoffs. He is such a smart player. Rick Nash has been a joy to watch as well. I bet Columbus fans are a tad bitter watching him flying all over the ice, as he has yet to bring this kind of effort and intensity to the NHL on a consistent basis. I realize it is hard to maintain such a high level of effort over an entire 82 game season, but Nash always seems to thrive playing for Canada.

Expect a flurry of activity starting on Monday morning in the NHL. GM's have had the past two weeks to negotiate deals, and I am sure there are already many tentative deals just waiting for the i's to be dotted and the t's to be crossed. One rumor has Dennis Siedenberg going to Ottawa.

I could see Vancouver going after Seidenberg as well, especially with news today that Willie Mitchell may be out for the season with the lingering effects of a concussion. He was progressing but suffered a setback recently. He sustained the injury when he was driven head first into the boards by Evgeni Malkin over a month ago. Malkin received a minor penalty on the play. It was dirty and reckless, but went unpunished from the league.

Will this tournament help kick start Pavol Demitra’s season? He is leading the tournament in scoring with seven points in five games. He had only one goal and four points in 11 games with the Canucks leading up to it, though. Playing with Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik is a bit different compared to playing with Steve Bernier and Kyle Wellwood, but Demitra is showing speed and tenacity that I have never seen from him before.