Yup, the Rangers look very good and gave my Canucks a pretty solid thumping the other night. Yeah, I'm still sore about the Canucks letting Grabner go - he is a great skater and his speed was very evident when he played here - I still don't know why the Canucks gave up on him - clearly a bad mistake letting him get away from us. btw - Habs are my Dad's fave team and my 2nd fave team so I like seeing them up there in the standings =)

So Gerard Gallant was just sacked by the Panthers today. Totally shocking! Yeah, over the last week they've hit and missed on a few but they did beat the Canadiens AND the Rangers AND dude had an 11-10-1 record in 22 games, was nominated for the Jack Adams last year, and made it to the playoffs with a 47-26-9 record. And the Panthers management upends this guy! With key injuries too!
AND they left him at the PNC after losing to the Hurricanes to get his own cab. No class whatsoever!
See, this is why I struggle to be a homer. Ever since Huizenga sold the team it's been one self-inflicted wound after another.
I hope I'm wrong. The Pens did something similar but IMO they had (and still have) more talent player wise.

Gallant's firing is a head scratcher. Although Rowe's resume is decent. I think they've lost 2 and won 1 since the change so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

How about Connor McDavid - you get a chance to see him play much? That kid is incredible - and he's leading the league in scoring. He's looking like a MVP so far...

Connor McDavid is awesome! Great to see the Oilers doing well again.
And former Ranger Cam Talbot looks to be doing well for them too.

Luongo hits 5th for all -time wins:

Roberto Luongo passed Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk with his 448th career NHL victory Monday, placing him alone in fifth on the all-time wins list for goaltenders.

I like his tweet:


Strombone ‏@strombone1 3h hours ago
After doing the math.... If I play another 28 years I will still fall about 5-6 wins shy of tying Marty's record!

It's awesome to see Lou doing well but I'm still pissed about Gallant. It's not just Gallant getting fired but it's flushing another season away after a successful one.
I actually went back to following the Kings and Rangers primarily.
Other teams I'm watching: the Wild, the Bolts, Ottawa, the Stars and believe it or not...
... the New Jersey Devils. I really want to see them climb back up after Lou screwed them and split for Toronto. It might seem like heresy being an old Ranger fan, but...
My wife is from Jersey and she finds it amusing. She's all "you going to get a jersey now?" and I'm like " slow down!!!"
I also want to see the Capitals do well but I think their window is closing.

Fixed that for you

I'd like to see the Canucks climb back too but I don't follow them.
I am NOT a Habs fan though! haha!
And even though it's technically not the same team as the first Stanley Cup winner I'd like to see the Sens win the Cup "again."

I would definitely be good with the Sens winning the Cup...I'd be happy with ANY Canadian team winning the Cup...it's been way to long since a Canadian team brought Lord Stanley home!

Anyone watch the all-star game?

I watched much of it. I know it's getting to be like a lighthearted pickup game but this years seemed pretty hammy. Either Bettman gave all the goalies acid before the tournament or they were just not caring at all. Eh, I know none of them want to get hurt in an All-Star game...
I likened it to watching a boxing match in a Rocky movie. No defense and you know no one is really hitting anyone but kind of fun to watch.

lol, great analogy I agree - it is a bit silly but it's good fun to watch.

Bishop to the Kings for Budaj. Lots or people in TB going mental. I really like Bishop and I'm sad to see him leave the Bolts - who seem to be in selling mode on players. I really like Budaj and he's helped keep the Kings in contention with Quick out. (FFS though the Kings keep dropping games! Playoffs? Likely not!)
It's kind of obvious Bish is a rental and will go elsewhere before season's end. The trade deadline is today at 3 so who knows if he finds a new home in the next few hours.
Dorian - maybe your Canucks can pick him up.
Or maybe Bish is headed to Vegas? We'll see!

Iginla to the Kings!!!
Los Angeles now has like eight bucks in cap space.

L.A. didn't look too good the other night against my lowly Canucks. Nice goal by our new guy Goldobin. And then last night Coach Willie D plays Goldobin for 25 seconds in the last 25 minutes of the game. Stoopid.

I'm waiting for Columbus to fall because it doesn't make sense for them to be where they are... I also don't understand what happened to Dallas this year. It's been a weird season. I'm ready for the playoffs to start...and for spring to come - I woke up to ice and snow outside again this morning =(