Penguins acquire Ponikarovsky from the Leafs for L. Caputi & M. Skoula

From: ESPN

The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired winger Alexei Ponikarovsky from the Toronto Maple Leafs on the eve of the NHL's trade deadline, in exchange for prospect Luca Caputi and veteran defenseman Martin Skoula. Ponikarovsky, earning $2.5 million this season, is slated for unrestricted free agency July 1 and has long been on the trade market for the rebuilding Maple Leafs. In Pittsburgh, the solid two-way winger could be a nice complement to either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

The 21-year-old prospect Caputi, a Toronto native, was a fourth-round pick, 111th overall, of the Penguins in the 2007 NHL entry draft. Caputi had 47 points (23-24) in 54 games with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season also posted one goal and one assist in four NHL games with Pittsburgh.

Skoula was thrown into the trade to make the deal work for cap seasons on Pittsburgh's end. He's earning $575,000 this season and will be an unrestricted free agent July 1. The trade deadline is at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday. The Penguins also added defenseman Jordan Leopold on Monday, also a player slated for unrestricted free agency July 1.

Emery's season over needs hip srugery

From: TSN.CA

The Philadelphia Flyers announced Tuesday that netminder Ray Emery will be sidelined for the rest of the season with a hip injury. "Ray Emery will have surgery in the near future to repair his right hip," said general manager Paul Holmgren in a team statement. He is suffering from avascular necrosis and will have a bone graft done to alleviate his hip issues. Ray will be out for the remainder of the season."

In 29 games this season, Emery is 16-11-1 with a 2.64 goals against average and .905 save percentage with three shutouts. He signed a one-year deal with the Flyers last June.

Olympic Hockey A Success!

BY: Bobby

So far the NHL players have participated in 4 Olympics since 1998 and there has been only one big injury which was Dominik Hasek in 2006 who was a thousand years old already and injured his groin which was a recurring injury. So there hasn't been a whole bunch of injuries. The NHL is complaining about the compacted schedule because of the 14 day break. If anything the NHL should stop playing a few of the regular season openers in other countries while some teams are still playing pre season games. The flying and time difference really has an effect on the players but yet they send them over every year and now more teams than ever are starting their season over seas. I say lets send our players again in 2014 to Russia. Here is the reasons why?

So far since 1998 the Canadians met the USA in the Gold medal game twice out of four times. That will draw more American fans into hockey by them seeing how strong of a team their country has been. The game was the most watched hockey game since 1980's USA GOLD WIN. That gold-medal game drew 32.8 million. According to NBC, the game drew an average viewership of 27.6 million and a rating of 15.2, a jump of 45.5 percent from the same matchup at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Both gold-medal games were aired midafternoon live. From 5:30 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET, the audience reached its peak, with 34.8 million glued to the TV.

Yes it might not have been the Crosby vs Ovechkin finals people thought. But we got to see that matchup a round before. You got to see Ryan Miller prove that this is his year for Vezina. He took his game right into the olympics and won the tournament MVP. We all got to see for maybe the last time: Peter Forsberg, Zigmund Palffy, Sergei Federov. We now all know that Switzerland is no joke and with Hiller only being 27, they might have two more shots to win a medal if they can get a few more NHL caliber players. We saw Drew Doughty step into the spotlight and take over. We saw Roman Wick of Switzerland and now can wonder why he is not in the NHL. We got to see Jonathan Toews show he is an elite all around forward. We saw Russia choke once again, to many selfish players that want to be in the spotlight. We even got to see the great Martin Brodeur get pulled from the tournament for Roberto Luongo who then went on and won gold. Not to mention the greatly played final game. With parise tying it with 25 seconds left to get the game into overtime. Only to see lucky Sidney Crosby put home the game winner on a beautiful falling sweeping pass by Jarome Iginla. How Ironic? None the less it was a historic bout between two North American teams that will be talked about for ages.

Gary Bettman please you ruined enough things for us hockey fans including a whole season. Plaese do not screw this up. This is world class talent at a high fast level pace with hardly any commercials. I seen some of the best hockey I have seen in years. Do not take this away from us too. I would love to see the new players that would be there representing their countries like: Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Keith Yandle, Kyle Okposo, John Tavares, Mike Green, Zach Bogosian, James VanRiemsdyk, MPS, Jakob Markstrom, Tyler Hall, Erik Karlsson, Jonathan Quick, MArc-Andre Fleury, Kiril KAbonov, Nikita Filatov etc.. It will be even better cause alot of the older guys will not be there anymore like: Selanne, Kiprusoff, Brodeur, Iginla, Alfredsson, Pronger, Niedermayer, Langenbrunner, Drury, Rafalski, Gonchar, Kozlov, Koivu, Timonen, Salo, Jagr. It will be like a changing of the guard. I can only hope that olympics will be as good as this past one in 2010.

Flames Resign Renee Bourque

Forward Rene Bourque has signed a $20 million, six-year contract extension with the Calgary Flames.The team made the announcement Thursday. Bourque will receive $8 million from 2010-12.

The 28-year-old Bourque is in his second season with the Flames. The left wing was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks for a conditional draft pick July 1, 2008. Bourque had a career-high 21 goals in his first season with Calgary. Bourque has already set a career high for points this season with 41, including 18 goals. He has appeared in 280 career games and accumulated 156 points (72 goals, 84 assists). He originally was signed as a free agent by Chicago out of the University of Wisconsin.

Predators resign Pekka Rinne 2 Year Extension

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators signed goaltender Pekka Rinne to a two-year, $6.8 million contract extension. The team said Wednesday the deal will pay him $2.8 million in 2010-11 and $4 million in 2011-12.

The 27-year-old Rinne has a 20-12-4 record in his second full NHL season. As a rookie in 2008-09, he was 29-15-4. Rinne and Dan Ellis have split time in goal this season. He would have become an unrestricted free agent at the end of June. Rinne, of Kempele, Finland, was an eighth-round draft choice in 2004. He was on Finland's team in the world championships in May.

Slow and Hot Starts so far

Not all the teams played the same amount of games. But after 12 games looking at this NHL season so far it is crazy. Who would of thought going into Halloween that Anze Kopitar would be first in goals. 12 games 10 Goals and 21 points. He only had 60 something last year. And is well on his way of setting new career highs in everything. The kings offense is on fire right now along with the Rangers, Sharks, Oilers, Flames, Capitals, Avalanche and Stars. Like who the hell thought most of the teams would be offensive juggernauts right now with the exception of the Sharks and Capitals. Here is some slow starts and guys that are hot out the gate and an analysis. I didn't put the top players on the Hot Start List.

Slow Starts
Oli Jokinen (CGY) - Get rid of him as fast as you can. Last year 57 points. This year 5 points in the Flames 10 offensively productive games so far. This is now the trend with Jokinen. He is in the coaches dog house and not on the the top two lines. Trade him for anything you can get from another owner. Drop him for a younger forward on the top lines that is actually producing and getting goals. Jokinen is 30 gonna be 31 in December. But he is DONE!

Bobby Ryan (ANA) - This kid has the talent and skills. But it is not showing up on the box score right now. He has 2 goals and 2 assists. The 1 goal and assist came the other night. The ducks stink right now they lost 6-3 to the Maple Leafs which is emberassing. When the ducks turn it around so will Ryan. Do not give up on him so soon.

Bryan Little (ATL) - After a 31 goal season. He has 0 so far after 8 games along with 5 assists. The alarming number here is just the 12 shots in those 8 games. With Kovalchuk hurt, he should get top time. Now is his chance to start scoring, the Thrashers will be depending on it. If you trade him do not trade him cheap. He does have value as he is still getting points even without scoring goals right now.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SAN) - A semi-breakout season last year with 36 points. Only has 3 points after 12 games right now. Strange considering all the goals the Sharks are scoring. Ehrhoff was traded and you think Vlasic would of picked up more slack. Instead him and Rob Blake have somehow became putrid. I would not be playing Vlasic in my lineup. Only on the bench. If he does no signs of coming out of this slump, look to trade or drop him for a better guy.

Christopher Higgins (NYR) - A former 27 goal scorer and main player in the Gomez trade. Has yet to light the lamp for his new team. The Rangers have been producing offensively and Higgins only has 2 assists in 12 games. He is shooting the puck averaging almost 2 a game. But not a single goal yet. As of right now he has no fantasy value what so ever. He should not be on your team even in the deepest of leagues. You will get nothing for him in a trade. Would you want him if you were another owner?

Pekka Rinne (NAS) - After such a great season last year in his 1st year. He has really been lousy in his sophmore season. He is on a team that struggles to score goals on a nightly basis. But his GAA and SAVE % right now are so off from last years. It is early and so far Brodeur and Loungo rebounded. It is early still so don;t give up him already. If this continues he will kill your goalie stats. You need to think about finding a reliable goalie to put in untill he snaps out of it.

Steve Mason (CLB) - Mr Rookie of The Year and Vezina nominee is off to a bad start also. Yes he does have a 5-3 record. But his GAA of 3.51 ranks him 38th out of 42 goalies. And 39th out of 42 in Save % with an 88.3% ! The BlueJackets play defensive minded hockey. So its a shock to see his stats nose dive. But the BlueJackets look like a half decent team. So I don't think this will keep up all year. He did look soild in a few games.

Niklas Lidstrom (DET) - Is it finally the end of an era for Lidstrom. I thought he was going to be good again this year. But so far 3 points in 10 games. Not Lidstrom like stats so far. The whole detroit team stinks so far. So do not panic yet and trade him. Give the Red Wings 2 more weeks to get it together. If not maybe its the end of the road for the great Lidstrom.

Great Starts
(Goalie Tri-Fecta) Craig Anderson, Ryan Miller, Ilya Bryzgalov - These 3 goalie have been off to a great start so far this season. Ryan Miller is the sole reason that buffalo wins games. he is 6-0-1 in 7 games this year. Bryz is the only reason the Coyotes are off to a great start. He shutout 2 high scoring teams in the Penguins and Sharks. And has been stellar except his last game. Craig Anderson has been worth every penny the Avalanche paid for him. His numbers are great for a team that was at the bottom last year. Out of all 3 of these guys Miller has the most value. Bryzgalov is the most likely to drop off in stats because there is now way the Coyotes keep playing good. Anderson was good on the sucky panthers last year. So I do not see him doing horrible even when the AVS hit a losing skid. Plus he just got another shut out against the Oilers who were scoring alot.

Kings (1st Line) - Kopitar, Williams and Smyth, wow what a start. All though of course Justin Williams had to get hurt right smack dab in the middle of it. Will this keep up. No, but enjoy it while it lasts. Kopitar is the true stud out of the three. Smyth is old and puts up good numbers nothing spectacular though. Just Williams is a walking band-aid. Kopitar should score close to 90 points this season. If you have Ryan Smyth I would trade him now, I don't think his value can get much higher than what it is now.

Mike DelZotto (NYR) - Wow is he amazing offensively, sorta Mike Green. In the aspect that he is not that good defensively. DelZotto logs alot of PP time. He was given the #1 PP QB reigns as a rookie. And so far hasn't let anyone down. He is first in points for D-Men as a rookie thats incredible. He is 2nd in goals with 4. Just picture what he can do if he gets more then 16 minutes a game. If he works on his defense. He can be a 22+ minute D-Man. I do see him hitting a little dry patch in the next couple weeks. And he will finish with more then a half a point a game average. Do not trade him unless the other owner is ripping himself off, the sky is the limit.

Oilers (1st Line) - Hemsky, Penner, Gagner have been pretty good since being united. Dustin Penner has 8 goals and 15 points already. Not bad considering he had 37 points all last year. Hemsky finally is starting to look like a bonafide assist guy that could score from time to time. And Sam Gagner is starting to look the player people thought he would be. My advice would be to keep them if you have them. The oilers look promising especially with MSP and Eberle coming over next year. This can be an offensive team like the Blackhawks for years to come.

Renee Bourque (CGY) - He has proven to be a reliable producer the last 2 years. But he does have that flag next to him for being Injury Prone. With 14 points in 10 games he has more then Iginla and Jokinen combined. He has not been known to get them PPG goals. So this is the perfect candidate to trade "HIGH". Either in a package or straight up to improve another spot on your team. If he keeps it up and doesn't get hurt I would be amazed.

Ales Kotalik (NYR) - He has 12 points in 12 games. With 5 of them being goals. But he only shot the puck 12 times. If he would only shoot the puck more heh. So far so good as he is on the top power play unit right now. He has been productive out there with Gaborik. But a long term injury to Gabby like what almost happened the other night. And say goodbye to Kotalik's numbers. At 30 years old, trade him now while his value is at its highest its ever been.

Daniel Sedin breaks foot

Daniel Sedin sustained the first major injury of his NHL career, suffering a broken foot in Wednesday's Vancouver Canucks' game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The 29-year-old Sedin, who plays on a line for the Canucks with his twin brother Henrik, is expected to be out four-to-six weeks with the injury.

Doctors put a cast on the foot which was fractured when he was struck by a shot from teammate Alex Edler. Sedin played the rest of the game with the broken foot.