Goldie Says: My latest on NHL.com looks at Luongo’s crumbling confidence. Great deal for Reimer and his owners. I take a look at his potential next season as well.

One year and $3.25 million for Kostitsyn the elder in Montreal. Another 18-25 goal season filled with inconsistency – take that to the bank!

The Leafs have locked up James Reimer to a three year deal worth $1.8 million per. Solid contract for both sides. A potential steal for the Leafs if Reimer plays as well over the next three years as he did during his rookie season.

Thoughts on the game:

Is there a pro athlete who loves playing his sport more than Tim Thomas? Canucks are in very tough – I can’t see Thomas losing two of his next three starts. He’s inside the head of every single player on the Vancouver roster.

Brad Marchand was the best player on the ice – he was flying and dangling all game long. He needs to stay on the edge and not go over (end of the game, clothesline and low bridge), but right now he’s having a Dave Bolland-like impact on the Sedin twins.

Dan Hamhuis injury hurts… a lot. Why? It forces Ehrhoff up. It forces Edler up. It forces Alberts up. And as we saw last night, it forces a very rusty Keith Ballard into a tough situation.

Ballard had a gritty game (quite a few blocked shots), but he handled the puck like a grenade. He’s been handled abysmally by Vancouver this year – he should have been playing more down the stretch to ensure he wouldn’t be rusty in important games (like game four…).

As per a solid source – Hamhuis is done for the series with a serious rib injury. Same source who has passed along solid info in the past.

Vancouver getting sucked back into the style of game that cost them the past two years against Chicago. They’ll lose a physical battle with Boston 99 times out of 100. Boston is bigger, stronger, meaner, and tougher. Vancouver needs to get the PP figured out, and fast.

I tweeted before the game: “Peverley has been awesome all series long. He would be my choice for L1.”

Great trade by the Bruins. Peverley doesn’t have Blake Wheeler’s size or pedigree, but he competes much harder and has been a seamless fit. He can play a variety of roles. I think his fantasy value has to be looking strong for next year and beyond with the liklihood that Savard is done.

Peverley is a legit top six forward, but Boston hasn’t been playing him there due to fantastic depth.

Fantasy Prospects Report – buy it here.

Bryzgalov was apparently demanding the moon from Phoenix, prompting the Coyotes to trade him. I don’t think he really intended to re-sign there, and both sides probably figured that out pretty quickly.

It is funny how the NHL works – it seems that each year whichever two teams are in the Final affect how the other 28 go about constructing their rosters during the summer.

Last year Leighton and Niemi were the two starters, and teams didn’t spend much time/effort/money on goaltending. This year, Thomas/Luongo will undoubtedly change that.

Philadelphia has a few things to offer Bryzgalov that Phoenix didn’t – the most important being long term security. Who knows if the Coyotes are still playing in Phoenix past 2011-12.

The Bryzgalov trade seemed to prompt Jeff Carter trade rumors. It was Toronto last week, and yesterday it was Columbus. Sure, his 11-year deal doesn’t exactly scream ‘cap flexibility’, but Carter is a legitimate top line forward.

I don’t see Philadelphia moving Carter before the likes of Vertseeg, Carle, Meszaros, or Hartnell.

A solid read on what may happen with Bobrovsky this summer, regardless of who the Flyers do/don’t sign.

Back to the Coyotes… what do they do? A solid young core is in place. Do they take a run at a Jon Bernier or Cory Schneider? Phoenix could dangle Ekman-Larsson (unlikely) or Boedkker (slightly less unlikely). Perhaps they dip into the free agent market?

I think Vancouver is more likely than LA to hold on to their young ‘tender. Why? The Canucks don’t have a huge hole they need to fill, while the Kings desperately need a top line winger for Anze Kopitar. Bernier would be a huge trading chip.

Jonathan Quick’s stellar 2010-11 season put a dagger in the heart of the Bernier>Quick people (I’ll admit I had more than a toe in this camp last summer). Quick is a legit star goalie and he is just entering his prime.

It sounds like the Hurricanes may try Zac Dalpe and Jeff Skinner on a line together next season. The Hurricanes have a ton of cap space, but they will once again be a very, very young club.

Rome/Horton: I thought it was a late hit and deserved a suspension.

I am all for harsh penalties, just like I am all for calling obstruction. The name of the game is consistency. Hopefully Brendan Shanahan grasps this concept quickly. What happened under Campbell was a ‘wheel of justice’ system in which no sides (fans, players, management, owners) had a sound understanding of the reasons for/against suspensions and their respective lengths.

Murphy admitted that Horton’s severe concussion weighed into the eqation. Again, as long as this is a consistent measure, I don’t mind it. I just don’t see how accurate it is. Say Horton bounces back up and finishes the game. What happens with Rome? Should it matter? Looking for opinions (civil) of course.

The whole headshot/concussion issue is simply a mess right now. The league needs to take owners/GMs/players/influential media and sit them in a room for a week and iron out a tangible system for measuring/evaluating punishment. Regardless of team allegiance, I think people can agree that consistency is key.

Is regulating equipment (softer padding) the next step?

"Like" the Dobber Sports Facebook page and receive all the latest news of the progress of the fantasy hockey empire that I am building, as well as details of all my events, pictures and…well, not even I know what more we'll do with it. But you can help shape what some of the sites of this network becomes.