Madison Square Garden, Home of the overpaid underacheivers, though to be fair they traded away 2 to get 1 in this deal:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4879030

its a good move - the Kotalik contract was clearly a mistake and when we let jokkinen walk afetr this year, we will save teh 6 million Kotlik would have cost ove the next two eyars. plsu we got rid of higgins' contract as well - though he was unrestricted also - so it really doens't affect 10-11 bottom line.

I would love to get rid of the Rosival and Redden contartcs as well. I think the Rnagers absolutley need to be sellers this year. Gte younger, get cheaper and don't trade prospects or picks just so you can finish eighth and get blow out by the Caps. I don't know if sather can do that though - and he really, really has to go. Ten years and two playoff wins? Freaking please.

Is this some kind of alternate reality?

How the hell did the Devils end up landing Kovy? I'm not even sad about losing Oduya and Bergfors. The 1st round pick kindda hurts, but the Devils are stacked with prospects in the coming years.

A few things:

1) There's no way we're going to keep him once he's a UFA July 1st. If Kovy really wants the money Atlanta made it sound like he wanted, then there's no way Lou is going to pay that. Of course, maybe Kovy just really wanted out of Atlanta and would settle for something more reasonable. He's got to be just a rental for this year.

2) I wonder about chemistry. One thing is for sure, he'll be asked to play at both ends of the ice, and better not whine about it. I aslo wonder, if he has the team first mentality that fits with the Devils.

This is the craziest thing I've ever seen. Lou NEVER pulls this kind of crap. Hopefully it works out well.

yeah this is an odd one. He doesn't really give you guys scoring depth. still basically a one line team scoring wise, maybe they felt that martty was reaching the end and want to try and win one last one....

Lars said:

Oh, that's definitely part of it. Kovy will certainly help out our PP. So, I'm guessing Langs, Zajac, and Parise will stay on the first line with Zubrus, Elias, and Kovy on line two. Mixing in Rolston every now and then. With the rate Lemaire changes lines around, he'll probably get some action on the first line as well.

for some reason i thought pairse was a C, those two would be sick together. Plus i gotta imagine they wouldn't trade for him and not put him on top line. Is Elias 100%?

Patty is still recovering from a concusion, but he's practicing with the team and will be back probably on Mon. for the Flyers. Martin should be back after the olympic break, and hopefully Clarkson will be back soon as well from his broken leg.

I guess Kovy was skating with Zubs and Langs on the second line. Not sure who's skating with Zajac and Parise on line one, probably Rolston. Zajac is the C for that line and has awesome chemistry with Parise. They both played for North Dakota, not to gether, but same system, so they have meshed really well since day 1. Kovy will get the ice time he deserves though. Lemaire always switches things up.

I think the main goal at this point is to see how Kovy does away from Parise, so we can possibly generate 2 scoring lines and take a bit of the defensive heat off of Parise and Zajac. This will be an interesting experiment.

see the only problem i have w/ splitting up kuck and pairse is to give one ice time you take it away from the other. Just checked the box score of the game tonight and other zuburs getting only his 4th of the year, I was surprised to see that Kuck has more Ice time then Parise....but that might have a bit to do w/ kucks fondness of long shifts.

well an inconsistent and disappointing season is most likely over tonight. Leighton (the flyers miracle goalie and except for a game or two their best player these last 15 games...sad huh?) just got hurt......

I said somewhere earlier I can't have positive expectations for a season because they will find a way to ruin those expectations....

Wathever - i am half hoping for Boston to beat the NYR on Sunday - just becuase I want this team put out of tis misery.

They didn't even show up Tuesday night. Montreal skated circles around them and won every loose puck battle all night. The kids are just too imature and there is no depth behinf Gaborik and Prospal. Rangers need to let Prospal and Jokkinnen wlak in the off season and they need to get out form under soem awful contracts - liek redden adn Rosival.

I have no desire to see them squeak into an eight palce seed and get shelled by the Caps in the first round.

and I really do like the Caps in this season's tourney.

Ha!!!! That's what you get Lars when you play the Devils. ZERO National TV coverage. Take that!!!

Every other team has games on Versus.... nothing new, but completely stupid.

lol good maybe being out of the spotlight is what the flyers need.......

as i said before this matchup scares more the nanyone but washington...why the whole freaking city wanted us to play the devils and that generally = epic fail.....the whoel city wanted the phils to play the yankees in the world series...how did that work out.....bleh

Congrats to the Flyers.

I'm pretty OK with yesterday's result. Teh Flyers were the better team adn they are much more likely to do damage in the tournament. It really would ahve felt like stealing a playoff spot if they won in the shootout. I despise gimmicky shootouts.

More to teh point, i think its best for teh organization that they missed the tournmaent. Thsi was sather can't pretend they are only a player away (which is kind of what I thought as well goign inot this season). I think the roster needs an overhaul and I pretty much hate the whoel tema except for about five or six guys - Gaborik, Lundqvist, Drury, Callahan and Dubinsky. and maybe Girardi and Staal. Too early to tell on teh kid defensemen. Other than that - pacl 'em up and ship 'em out. Prospal. Jokkinen, Redden,. Ansimov, Rosival, - the lot of them. See ya.

On Sunday I was driving one of my kids home from his skating lesson and listening to the Rangers-Flyers game on the radio and was so in the "playoff" mindset that I was momentarily confused when the game ended and the announcers started talking about the five minute overtime about to start when I was geared up for a break and a 20min OT.

I guess I should be pleased with the matchup the B's got, since they did win the season series against Buffalo. But I don't see the B's as much of threat to anyone beyond the first round.

LetsGoRed said:

a good article on why shootouts suck and about going to only a 2 point for the winner situation instead of the crap we have. If the flyers had been playing good (i.e. not sucking into almost missing the playoffs) and then missed the playoffs becuase of a lost shootout i'd be very unhappy right now.

Lars said:

Maybe to approach to take is to have one 20min sudden death OT played 4x4. If it finishes without anyone scoring, both teams get zero points as though they both lost. I'd wager most games would finish in OT as teams will be more and more offensively aggressive as time is winding down and the window to get the point(s) for winning shrinks. Whether it should be 2 pts for winning regulation and 1 pt in OT or the same pt(s) for winning regardless of when it occurs, I'm not sure.

I don't really ind the current format. I'd like it better if there was no point awarded to the OT loser just because it makes it too hard for teams to catch up at the end of the year with all the points being handed out.

As for the Rangers, they didn't just missed the playoffs due to losing that shootout. The other 33 games they lost (or even the 11 OT loses) also kept them out. It sucks that a shootout is what it came down to, but that was the situation they put themselves in (as far as I'm concerned they did a great job even to have that shot with the mess their GM has created for them).

DJ makes a great point (and I HATE shoutouts) You can't really wring your hands about missing teh playoffs cause you lost a shootout - cause if you need one point to make eighth place on the last game of the season - you suck anyway and I have no sympathy. Quite frankly, and in all seriousness, once it got to OT I didn't care anymore and I think the team is better off missing the palyoffs that getting scrubbed in the first round by Washington. In fact - there has been more coverage of the Rangers NOT making the playoffs than there was of their late season rally against the Conference;s bottom feeders.

You can't go to a 20 minute oT in teh regular season though LGR - games would go too alet and given the number of deadlocks after regulation - you could be adding serious mielage onto players and shortening effectvoeness and even seasons. for aplyers - dudes will get hurt, sore, tired...it just doesn't work. I remeber when it was just 2 points for a win, one for a tie, nothing for a loss - but jerkoff Bettman thinks people don't liek ties. whatever - the shootout blows but I just don't see it changing. The kiddies and teh casual fans seem to liek it and it ain't goign away. Not unless there is a groundswell of opposition.

I'm not that concerned with mileage on the players (and I'm too lazy to look how many games go to OT on average to try to ballpark just how many more minutes this could mean for a player) so you have to play more of your bench perhaps the next game, that rewards deep teams and I'm fine with that. But I do think the overall length of the game would be an issue since you'd need to resurface for a potential 20 minute OT and fans may balk at the idea of a game lasting that long, especially if attending with kids (although it's still probably going to be shorter than a lot of baseball games).

And for the record, I'm fine with ties and I was fine with the old system. College hockey for the most part still uses the 5min OT and then it goes as a tie into the books for regular season games (one conference uses a shootout for conference games and conference standings, but the NCAA treats those as ties for NCAA selection purposes) and I don't think the games suffer for it.

I think a 5 minute OT at 4-4 with the winner getting 2 and the loser getting zero would be fine. The problem I have is what happens after those 5 minutes if still tied (an interesting thought process is that neither team gets a point...might see teams pulling goalies in tie games....). Maybe then resurface the ice and add on a 20 minute 4-4.....dunno.

I love Brian Burke....he says what the fans know and the Gary Bettemen idiot club won't admit:

As for the future direction of the club, Burke was unequivocal. “I’m not interested in a 5 year rebuild here.”

Some reporters inquired on the method of rebuilding that Burke has implemented with the Leafs, going away from the traditional building through acquiring young franchise players with high draft picks. When asked why he would not try to mimic teams like Washington, Pittsburgh or Chicago [who stole Kane from us...but I am okay w/ JVR for now....], who are leading Stanley Cup contenders following that rebuilding model, Burke exclaimed “you can point and say Pittsburgh, well Pittsburgh picked a ball out of a drum to get Sidney Crosby, don’t tell me there is any skill there……………They won a god da*ned lottery, I know, I came in second [w/ anahiem i believe].”

Freaking Devils - every year 95+ points.

Every year - gone before May.It would be funny if it weren't so....nah, its just funny.

Grats to the Flyers - but the Caps are going to annihilate you.

proabably, i'll be surprised if we don't get swept.

doesn't help that out guys needed to drink more milk growing up either

lappy blocks a shot with his face, no broken bones, carter with his skate, two broken feet....go figure.

on another note, go Ottawa for fighting the pens hard to stay alive for at least one more game, that game might be one where the pens finally suffer an overwheleming injury in the playoffs.

The Devils small forwards got muscled around by the F'ers D, and their small, underskilled blue line got out worked by the F'ers forwards.

The Devils system this year was great for stopping talent, but not at stopping strength and/or determination.

I could care less whether we keep Kovy or not, but our blue line needs some big bodies with skill.

Congrats LGR - cannot believe the Bs pushed past Miller and the Sabres and got to the next round. I guess Buffalo's scoring turned out to be as anemic as yours. And Montreal's goalie played UNCONSCIOUS last night! Once again - the Caps face a Game 7 in the first round - I'm pulling for them though. If they slip up Pitt has smooth sailing to the Finals. Plus I like the firepower on the Caps.

just to prove its not an Atlantic Division theory I ripped this from here :

The first rule of the NHL playoffs is simple: All refs suck.

However, are the referees worse than before. It seems that every game there is one person on twitter or on a hockeybuzz forum complaining about the referees.

With the increase of speed and physical play in the playoffs, the referee has a harder time giving out penalties, for each penalty is just that much bigger. So the refs either don't see the play of they decide not to call it.

The biggest examples from the recent Avs-Sharks series are when TJ Galiardi got his lip clipped from the stick of Ryan Clowe and needed 14 stitches. The refs said they thought the stick was deflected. The other example is when Jamie McGinn gave Center Matt Duchene three punches and only got a two minute minor while Scott Hannan got four in a peacekeeping role.

So the question is: are the refs getting worse or is the game just getting that much faster.

Overall, the refs have not been good in this series, in the worst way. The hardest thing of watching bad reffing is the inconsistency to it. Why is one hook worse than one? What makes this penalty different from the other. Why was the call made for that team and not this one or even for that player and not this one. That's been the real problem

If the NHL wants to be seen as a legitimate sport, it has to work on the consistency of its refs. Some referees call hooks instead of trips, some pay more attention to cross checking. That's fine- as long as it is called on both sides.

The NHL needs to hold its refs accountable if they call inconsistent games just as much as it does the players and coaches. They have to be able to set a standard for fair reffing that the referees follow.

It's one thing to give a team a bunch of powerplays when they have controlled the puck. It's quite another to give those token calls or "Make up" calls.

Make up calls have to be the worst. Should a ref miss a call then he does a make up call to that team on waht is usually a weak call. Then there's a make up call of the make up calls. It spins in a circle and brings the entertainment value of the game down.

If the NHL doesn't make its refs accountable for the games they call, this will just get worse as the years go on because right now, it's just hurting the league.