Regarding my note below on Juhamatti Aaltonen, I had a source read that and contact me – he has inside information that Aaltonen has received a one-way contract offer from the Dallas Stars. Glean from that what you will.

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With $9 million likely needed for the Red Wings to re-sign pending UFA Val Filppula and pending RFAs Gustav Nyquist, Brendan Smith, Joakim Andersson and Jakub Kindl… the Wings will only have $1.8 million to offer Unrestricted Free Agent Damien Brunner

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Detroit barely made it into the playoffs. With four games left, it was clear that it was going to be close. They had to win them all. Enter Henrik Zetterberg – 10 points in those games, lifting them on his shoulders. And then you can add another eight points in the first round. Clutch.

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The Rangers make me cringe, but I’ve gone from resenting them for sucking so badly all season and then backing into the playoffs almost by accident, to respecting them for what they did to fix it. Removing Gaborik and adding Brassard was a stroke of genius, as was the timely Mats Zuccarello signing. Zuccarello has 10 points in his last 13 games, while Brassard has 18 points in 19 games as a Ranger. I cringe because I traded Brassard in my keeper league at around 11am on Trade Deadline Day. And when he was dealt to the Rangers I was blindsided. I had no idea he was even on the block. I basically dealt Mike Smith, Diaz and Brassard for Hiller, Brouwer and Setoguchi. I wanted to move Smith before he left Phoenix, assuming he goes.

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Braden Holtby had a .935 SV% in the playoffs last year and we all raved about his tremendous play. This year his SV% is .938.

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The same play that Dion Phaneuf tried in Game 4 in overtime was done three times in Game 6 by other defensemen. They connected their hit to varying degrees, as Phaneuf did, but the coverage was there to back them up. I don’t blame Phaneuf for the move. I don’t blame anyone. And I was just as unhappy with how O’Byrne defended the two-on-one as I was with Phaneuf taking himself out of the play.

Jake Gardiner will be star. You’ve heard that before. But it’s not often that a team can have a player who can create offense when there is zero momentum going for the team. If Boston has the Leafs penned in the zone for three shifts, just send out Gardiner – he always manages to carry the puck up the ice. And I think Randy Carlyle sees this now, and there is no way Gardiner is ever held out of this lineup again.

Tyler Seguin has zero points, but he has 27 shots on goal (4.5 per game – he generally averages about three shots per

game).

Two players who deserve goals – Jaromir Jagr and Mikhail Grabovski. When either one of them is on the ice, the play goes in the opposing end – and those two hang onto the puck or retrieve the puck like nobody else in this series. But neither has a goal yet.

You know who wants to stay in the lineup? Dougie Hamilton. Just 10:49 ice time… but five hits.

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Joe Colborne got into the Leafs lineup last night because Tyler Bozak is out with an undisclosed injury (for an undisclosed length of them). Colborne actually saw regular ice time (over 15 minutes) and dished out six hits. He saw time with Phil Kessel and JVR, and I think he held his own.

Cody Franson, after his (pro-rated) 55-point season (or thereabouts), has four points in six games in the playoffs. Sunday he dished out seven hits and blocked two shots.

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Toronto may have an edge for Game 7 – Boston’s plane has some malfunctions the Bruins stayed in Toronto overnight.

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Do I enjoy NHL at the Olympics? Of course I do. Do I prefer that NHLers participate in the Olympics? Not my first choice. Here is my ideal scenario:

1. World Cup of Hockey every four years, in September.

2. Event grows in stature around the world over the course of, say , 20 years. Be consistent with this tournament and it will be huge.

3. Amateurs play in the Olympics.

Why? Let me give my reasons. And again, I do love watching NHLers at the Olympics, I’m just stating preference:

1. I believe it dilutes the value of these tournaments to have one every two years. So it should be one or the other.

2. I prefer it to be the World Cup because the NHL season doesn’t have to stop and take a two-week break.

3. Hockey in September every four years, leaving only two months of no hockey in those years.

Anyway, this won’t happen. We’ll have both tournaments, because the fat cats need to chase their dollars. But the World Tourney will never be able to grow as big as it could.

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Matt Moulson was off the John Tavares line those last two games – and that happened a lot in the 2010-11 season as well. You’re going to see that from time to time, but I wouldn’t let that scare you away from Moulson. Next year, it would just mean that he’s perhaps playing with Ryan Strome. At this point, he’d get his 30 goals playing with Marty Reasoner.

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In case you haven’t been watching the World Championships, as I admittedly haven’t, I took the liberty of going over the stats. Former Chicago/Anaheim prospect Petri Kontiola leads the tourney with 12 points in six games. You know how I often speak to a player’s breakout with the caveat ‘but had he done X, then we may never hear of him’, or ‘had the team done Y, then he’d be off to Europe and we’ll never hear from him again’ etc etc? Well, here is one of those guys. A great prospect for Chicago, I had identified him in the 2008 Fantasy Prospects Report as a potential 60+ player and 80% chance of being an NHLer. I had Kris Versteeg as potentially 75 points and 65% chance. Well, Versteeg beat out Kontiola for a roster spot and he never recovered. That being said, he has enjoyed success in the KHL after a rocky first season and as best as I can dig up – his contract is up. I’m not saying run out and grab him, as his upside doesn’t warrant it. But keep an eye out for his name.

Ilya Kovalchuk is second in scoring with 10 points, while Steven Stamkos and Paul Stastny are third with nine points. Alexander Radulov, for those interested, is next with eight points, tied with Juhamatti Aaltonen – another guy I was high on in the Prospects Report, but he never made the jump across the pond.

Great news here – Craig Smith has seven points for Team USA. Huge for his confidence. Ditto for Nino Niederreiter (six points).

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I had a shot at going 7-1 with my playoff picks, but all these come-from-behind-in-the-series teams could end up making me 4-4.

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I’m guessing we’ve seen Teemu Selanne‘s last game. He played just 12:55 in a game where the Ducks needed a goal. They needed a goal and looked to the likes of Emerson Etem and Nick Bonino over Selanne.

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St. Louis prospect Ty Rattie broke the WHL record for most career goals in a postseason after Portland won the WHL championship last night. He is the playoff MVP, picking up 36 points. His hat trick last night gives him 50 career WHL playoff goals. Rattie is ranked 26th on my prospects list (which I just realized is three days late for an update – sorry about that, been buried in the Fantasy Prospects Report. I will get to it asap). And Rattie’s fantasy profile can be found here.

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Look at this – looks like Dorsett tried to slew foot Mike Green. Then Green cross checks him: