Hockey Rambling

Kessel battling injury, Tyler Seguin scores twice, go pick up Scott Darling.   ***   It was a busy Saturday filled with well staggered NHL games, but before we breakdown all the action let's do a quick recap of injuries.    It was reported by Sportsnet's Damien Cox on Hockey Night in Canada that Toronto [...]

Perry and Eller hurt, Little with a hat-trick, buying low on Varlamov and more...   *   Update: The Ducks retracted their tweet regarding Perry's injury not being considered to be serious. I think we'll have to wait for an MRI here. That gets me back to my three week minimum guess, which was based [...]

Brodeur stumbles, Hornqvist injured, Byfuglien back on D and more...   *   It just keeps piling up for the Penguins. Patric Hornqvist was drilled by Ryan Stanton (I won’t talk about if it was clean or not, you can be your own judge. Hornqvist left the game and did not return. It sure looks [...]

Why Versteeg is legit, Byfuglien heating up, Brodeur to debut tonight and more...   *   Exciting opening and ending in Minnesota between the Wild and Canadiens but what a horribly dull game otherwise.   The Wild controlled much of the match outshooting Montreal 35-19. That’s not particularly surprising given the statistical trends of these [...]

The over/under on Brodeur, thoughts on Huberdeau, Girgensons, Jimmy Hayes and more … *** It turns out that it was the Ducks that signed Bryzgalov. It's a tryout contract, which makes it a game-by-game thing. All he wants is a game or two - a great showing would generate interest from teams like the Oilers. [...]

Give Lars Eller and Matt Beleskey a look, Bobrovsky and Mike Smith finally win, and more...   *   Good for the banged up Blue Jackets getting a win off the visiting Panthers.   There was a scary moment in warm-up where Sergei Bobrovsky ran into and was felled by a teammate. You’d figure with [...]

My four biggest shockers this year; Stalock waiting to pounce; Players ready to decline and more … *** The biggest shockers of the year for me so far: 1. Filip Forsberg - Here is a great young prospect who I figured would be a 60-point player with 80-point upside with Washington. But then he was [...]

Sunday thoughts on a pair of extensions, Buffalo's hot streak, and the Dallas Stars' defensive issues.    ***   The Montreal Canadiens announced a six-year contract extension for forward Brendan Gallagher on Saturday. The deal will carry a $3.75 million cap-hit, and is worth over $22 million in total. I guess Marc Bergevin learned his [...]

McDonagh returns, Stepan on fire, Ennis heating up, the Canucks blueline scoring woes and more…   *   Once again, remember to get those lineups set early. The Rangers and Flyers are running it back with another matinee game at 1:00 pm Eastern.   *   Ryan McDonagh returned for the Rangers yesterday, as promised. [...]

Craig Smith on the top PP unit, Joe Thornton is still elite, Eberle has no one-timer and more...   *   Remember to get your lineups set early today as the Rangers-Flyers game drops at 1:00 pm Eastern. It would be a truly Black Friday if you forgot.   *   Mike Fisher made his [...]