Johan Franzen, who played well in the playoffs last season and had his breakthrough season in 2008-2009 has really shown he can step up when it really matters. He leads the Red Wings with 18 points, half of which come from goals. He has been the biggest asset to Detroit in these playoffs. 

Chris Osgood has also been outstanding. Many doubted his play because of his season stats and most people do not look at him as a Stanley Cup goalie even after last season. He has shown that he is more than capable though. His stats may not be up there with Fleury or even Khabibulin but his 0.922 save percentage and 2.06 goals against average have proven to be strong enough, even without Brian Rafalski in the first five games of the Anaheim series. 

Scoring has been coming from other unexpected places. Pavel Datsyuk has been seldom seen in these playoffs and has been held to just five points in 12 games. Second and third line players like Dan Cleary, Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler have stepped up their game and have combined for 27 points in only 12 games.

Detroit was able to take game 1 of its series against Chicago because of these backup goal scorers. The series is not over yet though, not by a long shot. Detroit won the season series against the Black Hawks 4-2 but they lost the last two meetings. Detroit will need to keep up with the speed and skill of Chicago’s young players like Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews. Chicago’s young blue liners like Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook will also need to be contained. Veterans Brian Campbell and Martin Havlat pose major threats offensively as they have combined for 22 points in twelve games. 

Detroit’s goal-tending has to remain rock solid and their go-to offence-men like Datsyuk have to step up in order for them to win three more games in this series.

It started when the Leafs took him in the first round, 10th overall, when many believed he would be an early second-rounder.

But he had a very dominant season in the second tier of the then, RSL, and so the Leafs went out of their way to make him a part of their future.

He went from being No. 11 to No. 80, but the injuries would never escape him.

Today, he is considered by many as our only legitimate Top Six forward, although the recent play of Jason Blake, would have him too, being considered in that class. 

With the recent remarks by Brian Burke, stating that Big Nik should basically not expect a contract renewal, where does Antropov go next? It is almost an absolute guarantee that he will be donning the colours of a different team come the end of March 4—but for who, where, and what will HE do there?

Obviously, we fans are most concerned by the first two—who are we getting in return, and where is he going? However it is amusing to wonder how he will do once he goes to the new city. Obviously, we as Leafs fans should not really care how he does, just as long as what we received for him is adequate.

So I’ll go through my three opinions, on those three questions, but I ask anyone who chooses to read this, to state their opinions as well.

Who Will The Leafs Receive In Return? Where Is Antropov Going?

This is pure speculation, and we all have our own opinions on his worth, and who we’d want in return.

If I were the GM of the Maple Leafs, and I’m moving Antropov, I’d be starting with an offer for a second-round pick and a prospect. This would entice a number of “buyers” to consider him as a great option. As a result, I would have the opportunity to field numerous offers, and create bidding wars.

Hopefully when all is said and done, Antropov will be heading to another city, with either a first-round pick coming back our way, or a second-round pick and a good prospect. Considering the rumours of where Leafs scouts have been, I would hope that the Flyers, Bruins, Blue Jackets, and Penguins show considerable interest.

The pick is a pick, but the thought of the prospect in return, is something I would wonder about.

The Flyers have a few considerable options in the prospect field. Considering it is Antropov, JVR is untouchable in this trade, perhaps if it was Kaberle going to the city of brotherly love. Claude Giroux would be a great option, and considering the second-round pick, should be a higher choice, he would be an excellent player for the Leafs to look at.

The Bruins also have some good young prospects coming up as well. When I first think of the Bruins’ prospect pool, Brad Marchand first comes to mind, for obviously his Canadian heroics. But a guy like Zach Hamill would also be highly touted by me, if I’m dealing with the Bruins.

The Blue Jackets have an excellent crop of impact prospects, most notably the likes of Brassard and Filatov. Again, its Antropov, not Kaberle, so we need to be reasonable. Perhaps, a guy like Cody Goulobef would serve us well.  The Blue Jackets also have apparent interest in Kubina.

You could also throw the Penguins’ hat into the Antropov sweepstakes, considering they lack secondary scoring. It would be difficult to acquire their first round pick, but perhaps a second-round pick and a good young player/prospect. It’s a tough call, but if Burke really wanted Staal, he could definitely attempt to expand the deal to include another payer and Antropov, and maybe the Penguins’ bite.

What Will He Do There?

Any team that acquires Antropov gets a quality big forward, who at times does not play big. He would be an excellent addition to any power-play unit, either first or second, due to his excellent ability to tip the puck, screen, and be a big body in front of the net. He brings something similar to what Holmstrom brings to the Detroit power play, but with more skill along the boards, and the ability to generate offense.

He has apparently cured the injury bug (KNOCK ON WOOD), and should be capable of the rigorous grind of the playoffs.

With the comments made by Burke, about not expecting to offer Antropov a contract for next season, and that he should look at a change of scenery, as a GM of the team that acquires him, I see it as a great thing.

I’d be less worried of the Hossa factor with the Penguins, because Antropov’s number-one destination of choice going into July 1,would have been the Maple Leafs. With them apparently out of the picture, Antropov is much more likely to choose to resign. 

Overall, Nik Antropov is a guy that is expected to find a new home come March 4th, but who, where, and what he will do there, is still uncertain. About as uncertain as his health has been in the past. 

————–

Crazy Trade Thought Of The Day:

To Detroit:

Vesa Toskala

Domenic Moore

To Toronto:

Thomas McCollum 

Chris Osgood 

Daniel Cleary

Neither Conklin nor Ozzie have been good enough this season, and let’s face it the Wings won’t repeat the great cup run with a .890 save percentage.

My personal solution, DO NOT TRADE FOR ANYONE, DO NOT CALL OUT OZZIE OR CONKLIN, simply CALL UP HOWARD

Jimmy Howard has been a Red Wing prospect for the last 3 seasons, although he’s never played more than 4 games in a season, he’s a decent prospect, I believe the Red Wings as a team have nothing to lose, the defence is clicking, the offense has chemistry, besides Howard must gain experience if the management wants him to become the next Chris Osgood.

Let’s start with the players:

Who’s been great this year:

1.-Kyle Quincey, one of my personal favorites of this year, in Detroit he was a nobody (not because he didn’t play hard, but because the star filled defense of the Red Wings limited his ice time), if you read my article after the Red Wings won the Cup, you’ve might have seen that I sort of saw this one coming.

2.- Milan Lucic, If someone asked you one year ago, who is Milan Lucic? more than half of us wouldn’t have known what the hell were you talking about. This has been the Boston Bruins year (even if San Jose is higher than them on the overall Standings), all because players like Lucic have been clicking for their team (as a matter of fact I could also have chosen half of the roster, but Lucic has become one of my favorites this year)

3.-Patrick Kane, maybe one of the most predictable picks for this year, after all he’s been one of the brightest stars of the Blackhawks roster, when I look at how this guy and Jonatan Toews have changed the Blackhawks from a bottom of the standings team to a top team in the west makes me forsee a great future for the Franchise.

4.-Zach Parise.- No Brodeur = No Playoffs? Ask this guy! He’s been the most valuable Devil on the roster, his offensive explosion has given hope to a team that after the Brodeur injury was supposedly out of the playoffs.

Who’s been not so great this year:

1.- Marian Gaborik, I must say it’s not a 100 percent his fault, but he was going to be one of the “players to watch” this season as he will become a UFA, but still this guy played less than 15 games for the Wild, a team that was hoping to sign him long term or deal him at the deadline. Good luck trying to deal a guy on the long term injury list! It’s a shame because he’s a natural goal scorer.

2.- Chris Osgood I must say one of my favorite players, he’s led my favorite team to two cups (I’m not counting 1997 because it was Mike Vernon not Chris Osgood in goal), but this year he’s been not so great.

3.- Alexei Kovalev.- A point per game guy that just isn’t producing as much as last year, but then again he usually is a second half of the season guy

4.-Vinny Lecavalier, a franchise player that’s just in the middle of a franchise in conflict, in my personal point of view it’s not his fault, he just has no chemistry with his current roster, maybe the Lightning should shake things up for him or the roster (let the debate continue).

On teams I’ve got two choices on great:

San Jose: who would have imagined last summer that after just adding Rob Blake and Dan Boyle this team would be this Good! It really makes me wonder, can Ron Wilson take you all the way to a Stanley Cup?

Boston Bruins: WHAT A CHANGE! In just one year, they went from the 8th spot on the east to leading the east, it’s amazing! Everything is clicking for a team that was “lost” without Joe Thorton

On bad teams:

Ottawa: What the hell happened? Nothing is clicking, and unless Bryan Murray accepts it and shakes things up NOW things will probably go worse.

Dallas : Is one player that much a difference? Sean Avery’s prescence aparently destroyed a team that was supposed to go deep into playoffs.

Someone forgot to tell the Leafs who the night was supposed to belong to. Although the first period was pretty much a one sided affair, with Detroit gaining multiple scoring chances and almost scoring on multiple occasions on a shaky Vesa Toskala. Unfortunately, near the end of the period Detroit’s sloppy play in their own end finally backfired as Chris Osgood, who had played great up to that point, shoveled the puck blindly into the slot for ‘johnny-on-the-spot’ Pavel Kubina. That goal was the start of a huge momentum swing for the young Leafs, who went on to win the contest 3-2, with rookie Nikolai Kulemin scoring the game winning goal at 7:25 of the third period.

One thing that was refreshingly different for the Leafs was their aggressive play. This has not been a strong point the past few seasons, but it seems that rugged Ron Wilson’s system is starting to rub off in a good way. A pinching Pavel Kubina’s first period body check on Thomas Holmstrom, might have led to a great scoring chance by a streaking Marian Hossa, but it set the tone for more physical Leafs play to come. Jonas Frogren also displayed some grit as well.

There were two more aspects of this evening that were worth noting for Leafs: One was the play of their second and third forward lines.  The Line of Dominic Moore, Nikolai Kulemin and Alex Steen was by far the best Leaf line of the night; with Moore and Kulemin gaining multiple offensive chances. The line of Tlusty,Grabovsky and Hagman showed great excitement as well. The second bright spot was the play of heralded rookie defenseman Luke Schenn. He has a lot of hype to live up to, but he continues to do a great job of playing within himself; body checking and playing sound defense whenever possible.

The likelihood that the Maple Leafs will win a Eastern Conference playoff spot when the Regular season ends, is very slim, but this is just a small step in the right direction, for a franchise in desperate need of showing their loyal fans that the future is finally worth looking towards.

On the other hand, the Redwings will toss this opening loss aside and contend for the Cup yet again. The fact that they continue to outshoot the opponents and play that maddening puck-control game bodes well for them. One thing is for sure, they need to work on play in their own end, and breaking the puck out more smoothly. Marian Hossa was a bright spot in his first game as a Detroit Redwing, earning great scoring chances with hard work and amazing speed. The Viking look-alike, Thomas Holmstrom also got off to a great start, scoring both Detroit goals while again entrenching himself in and around Toskala’s crease.

But the Red Wings’ roster looks remarkably similar this year as it did last. In fact, if the Wings have anything, it’s too much talent, and not enough room to make use of it all – a striking blend of fresh faces who have impressed beyond expectations, and veterans who have been around to see the team through four championships that’s so deep it’s actually squeezing NHL-ready players out of contention. And that’s not really a problem you mind having all too much.

In ‘07-’08 the Wings’ record was 54-21-7, totalling 115 points. They led the NHL in most shots taken per game (34.4) and in fewest shots allowed (23.5), led the league in face-off percentage (53.3) and they outshot opponents in 71 of 82 games. And there is very little reason to expect any of that to change.

Bringing Back the Talent

Forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have become the face of the organization upon the departure of Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan – both late draft picks hand-chosen by master scout Hakan Andersson. Combined, they totalled 189 points and were a +71. While the Eurotwins will start this season on different lines, countless times when the Wings have struggled it’s been the pairing of these two in combination with Tomas Holmstrom’s antics in front of the net that’s helped them back up – and we have no reason to expect anything different this season.

Secondary scoring shouldn’t be a problem either – between the breaking out of journeyman Dan Cleary and big Swede Johan Franzen last season, and the only increasing production of youngsters like Valtteri Filppula (recently resigned for three years) and Jiri Hudler, the Wings have got it taken care of in terms of production. And of course the old grinders, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty and the likes, are still around as well.

The Wings’ blueline, logjammed as it is, goes 10 deep. Starting off with Nicklas Lidstrom, the perennial Norris Trophy winner and first European captain to win a Cup, the back end is stacked – former Devil Brian Rafalski, finally injury-free Niklas Kronwall and his new defensive partner, another journeyman who found a home in Detroit, Brad Stuart make up the top four for a blend of skilled puck-moving defensemen, and physical battering rams. Coach Babcock has said the fifth and sixth spots will be taken up by Brett Lebda and Andreas Lilja, but veteran Chris Chelios will also be back, and Derek Meech, Kyle Quincey, and Jonathan Ericsson are waiting in the (no pun intended) wings.

When it comes to goaltending, a lot has been said about Chris Osgood – formerly it was argued that he was perhaps the “worst goalie to win a Cup”, but few can claim him the worst goalie to win two. Ozzie stepped up last season and had a career year, proving that he earned the starting job this coming season and relegating prospect Jimmy Howard to at least one more year of being “the future of Red Wings goaltending”. Of course, Osgood has to keep it up, as he’s not the elite goalie some teams boast – but with the sort of defense the Wings have, his calm, patient demeanor should take him far.

Key Losses

Heading into the summer there were a few questions about who would stay and who would go – but only a few. Elite goaltender Dominik Hasek finally decided to call it quits after a shakier year than he may have liked, wherein Osgood replaced him in the first round of the playoffs and never looked back. The decision to bring Dom back last year was undoubtedly a good one, but his departure shouldn’t make a large impact on the team this season and nor should the other loss to retirement, forward Dallas Drake, who had a strong playoffs – and it was great to see him finally lift the Cup and go out on a high note – but is hardly irreplaceable.

Key Acquisitions

Considering how many players were expected to stay on board, especially after the resignings of Lilja, Stuart and, later on in the summer, Filppula, the Wings weren’t really expected to make too much of a splash in the market this summer. On Free Agency Day they picked up goaltender Ty Conklin who, despite a sketchy history with teams like the Oilers and Blue Jackets, stood tall in net for Pittsburgh this past season and will provide both a strong backup for Osgood and a good challenge for Howard – and most of Detroit expected that to be all. When the announcement came the next day that Ken Holland had landed forward Marian Hossa for a year, fans were stunned. Hossa, an elite winger who had 66 points this past season and 100 the seasonbefore deserted Pittsburgh and scorned incredible offers to come to teams like Edmonton, choosing instead to sign for one year with the team he felt had the most talent and the best chance to win – quite the vote of confidence. Hossa will be paired with Datsyuk and Holmstrom, making the Wings’ line of Zetterberg, Franzen and Hudler arguably the best second line in hockey.

In the System

Wings forward prospects Ville Leino (sought out by Finnish scout Ari Vuori and signed shortly after Fabian Brunnstrom decided to choose Dallas over Detroit this past season) and Darren Helm (who had a fantastic playoff run with the Wings this past season) along with defensive prospect Jonathan Ericsson (once ‘Mr. Irrelevant’, the Wings final pick, 291st in the ‘02 draft) were just sent back to the AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins after being deemed by Mike Babcock “the best players I’ve ever been involved with sending to the minors ever”. The Wings are also currently looking to trade defensive prospect Kyle Quincey despite loving his size and the physical presence he brings – because there simply isn’t room (similarly, enforcer Aaron Downey was recently waived as well and will start the season in GR). Goalie prospect Daniel Larssen will join Jimmy Howard in Grand Rapids this season along with other names who have both seen NHL playing time or are expected to soon – Mattias Ritola, Jakub Kindl, Cory Emmerton. Right now the team’s sheer depth is incredible – and something Detroit will be banking on for years to come.

It will be hard for the Wings to repeat – but if any team has a good chance, it’s this one. The team starts off the season chasing Montreal’s record for repeat 100-point seasons, hoping for #9 this year. There is talent playing on Detroit’s third line that could crack the first line on other teams’ rosters, and most importantly that talent intends to stick around – the Wings have created a system that instills loyalty in its players, many of whom have taken hometown discounts to resign with the team. The players believe in the city, the management, and each other – they play hard, with this sort of talent, every single night, and they’ve creatd a reputation that’s got other teams scared of them.

When goalie Chris Osgood was asked during last spring’s playoffs whether there was anything his team did not have, he snappily replied, “A weakness.” Without being too cocky, his statement does hold some water. Is it true enough, though, to lead the Red Wings to Stanley Cup #12? We’ll see starting this Thursday night when the team raises the banner at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Stuart played in 9 regular season games, after being dealt at the deadline by the Los Angeles Kings, with Detroit recording 2 points and a plus 6. In playoffs Stuart played 21 games recording 7 points and a plus15

Lilja played 79 regular season games all with Detroit recording 12 points and a minus 2. in Playoffs Lilja recorded 1 assist and a plus 3 in 12 games.

Conklin’s signing was a big surprise (at least for me) that July 1st had. Conklin started in 33 regular season games with 18 wins and a .923 save percentage. He didn’t start any playoff games.

To be honest I thought the Detroit Red Wings would stick to a Chris Osgood/Jimmy Howard goaltending tandem.

• Pavel Datsyuk: Definitely a hard working player for the wings. Does his best every time he steps on the ice. Never stops excelling offensively and defensively.Simply Pavel, as always. Unfortunately for Datsyuk, this year won’t be his.
• Johan Franzen: Franzen has been the surprise of the playoff for the wings, maybe even bigger than Osgood. Johan was extremely productive through out the whole playoff run. Will he win it? I don’t think this year’s the one, he hasn’t proved enough yet, besides the fact he’s getting better with the puck. Is he the MVP? No, since the team kept winning even when he wasn’t in the line-up.
• Nicklas Lidstrom: Lidstrom has been the same year after year. He is by far one of the Wings best players, but sometimes the best player doesn’t necessarily happen to be the MVP, especially in a team like the Red Wings that has so much in-depth talent and the possibility to play better and compensate when Lidstrom isn’t on the ice. They can do so in the playoffs due to the importance of every game, but if the Conn Smythe was awarded for the season’s MVP, I’d go with Lidstrom all the way since the Wings, the best team in the NHL, went through their worst period of the season when Lidstrom was out.
• Chris Osgood: Chris has been outstanding for the Red Wings ever since Mike Babcock pulled Dominik Hasek to throw him in and make him the starting goaltender for every game ever since. Some say he doesn’t deserve much recognition since he’s only shot at 20-25 times a game, but with a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins, any shot counts and any shot could go in. Is he going to win it? One thing’s for sure, he deserves it as much as the one I picked to win it. But unfortunately for Osgood, there is still doubt about his talent.
• Henrik Zetterberg: Who stands right next to Lidstrom in the best player category? Henrik Zetterberg. This guy may not be qualified as the next one, has not been drafted in the first round, doesn’t get as much attention as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but I truly believe that if the Red Wings are to win the cup, Zetterberg is the perfect pick to win the Conn Smythe. I’ve been thinking about him for a while, but only after game 4 did I really know he was the one. This guy is constantly giving his best and it shows by his plays on the ice how devoted he is to give his team the win. In game four, with his team up by one and less than a minute left in regulation, Henrik was all over the net blocking shot after shot helping his team maintain the lead and win the game. Let’s not forget the over a minute 5-on-3 the Penguins had with a little over 5 minutes left. To me, that was a defining moment in that series. Zetterberg, who was on the ice during the 5-on-3, did a great job by blocking shots, playing extremely well defensively, almost getting a breakaway, going on a 1-on-1 and spending almost half a minutes carrying the puck in the Penguins’ zone. A defining moment for a defining player.

So yeah. I picked Henrik Zetterberg to win the Conn Smythe. If the Wings win the cup but a player from the Penguins is to win the Conn Smythe, you guessed it: I’d give it to Sidney Crosby. Crosby has been the Penguins best offensive player, or even best player overall. If the Pens happen to come back and win the cup, well I’d still give it to Sidney Crosby. During the season, Evgeni Malkin was the Pens player in Crosby absence, but in the final, Malkin is nearly visible on the ice and to win the cup, the Penguins are going to need Crosby to be their most dominant player on the ice every night. Whatever happens, we can all agree that both teams are giving us a nice Stanley Cup final, although it’s as if the Penguins only started playing in game three.

This all started at the end of the game when Mike Ribeiro passed around the net of Chris Osgood and caught Osgood’s stick in the face, for which Ribeiro then retaliated with a vicious slash to Osgood’s chest.

“Even if I did butt-end him, I mean it was an accident, I don’t think that justifies a two-hander over the top of the net, he could have gone about it a different way, or said something to me” said Osgood after game no.2.

When asked to explain or comment on his actions after Game 2, Ribeiro responded.

“He clipped me in the face. If he doesn’t do that, I don’t think I react, and I have no reason to do what I did. It’s a little bit of frustration and emotion in the game but I think that what he did is more dangerous than what I did.”

Both players were fined undisclosed amounts by the NHL, but were not suspended.

Both players commited dangerous acts with their sticks, why is it that they were not suspended? Could it be that both Ribeiro and Osgood are good players and an integral part of their respectve teams that it’s excepted for good players to not follow the rules?

The series between Detroit and Dallas resumes this evening, will there be fall-out from that event, or will both players remain calm?

In the Western Conference you will see the Dallas Stars against the San Jose Sharks, and the Detroit Red-Wings against the Colorado Avalanche.

Stars, Sharks: Evegeni Nabokov against Marty Turco. Nabokov is the better goalie this year by far, but Turco has played really well, and didn’t play as many games during the regular season as Nabokov, one would have to think that Nabokov will get tired eventually. Nabokov has the edge as long as he doesn’t get tired. The Stars still don’t have Sergei Zubov, which could hurt them in this series. If the Stars hope to defeat the Sharks they will have to do the same thing as they did against the Anaheim Ducks, as the Sharks are also a physical team, however they might be a little bruised after their last series against the Calgary Flames. Technically the Sharks should win, but then again, everyone had the Ducks winning too, as the Stars had a bad end of the season, and look what happened.

Avalanche, Red-Wings: As much as it pains me to say it, with the recent play of the almost extinct Dominik Hasek, Jose Theodore is the better goalie so far, Chris Osgood is a good goalie, unfortunately Theodore has been standing on his head in the play-offs, the edge to starting goalie goes to the Avalanche. Ian Laperriere, he has got a target on his back after smashing Niklas Lidstrom into cloud nine at the end of the season. The scorers for both teams are about even, the defence however goes to the Red-Wings. This series should go to the Red-Wings, but they didn’t impress too many people in their last series, are they too old? The Avalanche have some speed, but will it be enough to win? Colorado could upset.

In the Eastern Conference you will see the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Rangers, and the Montreal Canadiens against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Penguins, Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist, enough said. Lundqvist is superior to Ty Conklin, and Marc Andre Fleury, by far. Pittsburgh’s offence is better than the Rangers, but, Jaromir Jagr has come out of his shell, that could hurt the Pens. The Pens are all offence, and didn’t have much trouble sweeping the Ottawa Senators in their last series, but the Rangers are not the Sens. The Rangers have Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, to shut down either the Sidney Crosby line, or the Evgeni Malkin line. But will the Pens be able to defend against the re-appearance of Jagr the great, Brendan Shanahan, Brandon Dubinsky, and Martin Straka? Fleury, or Conklin will have their hands full in this series. The only factor that will not be one is Sean Avery, yes he can score some nice goals, which he just might, but his intimidation antics will not work in Pittsburgh with big George Laraque on the ice, Avery better hope that those two don’t meet, or else Avery can book his hospital room right now. Besides goal-tending which the Blue Shirts hold the advantage, the Pens have more explosive talent up front, question is, will they be able to explode on the Rangers, the Rangers aren’t the Sens. Keep the Pens in their own zone. I believe that the Rangers could win this one, if they are able to slow down the Pens, if not, the Pens take it.

Canadiens, Flyers: Where to start, well to keep it short, Carey Price is better than Martin Biron. The Flyers defence is slow, and Derian Hatcher has seen better days. These two teams were no.1, and no.2 in the regular season on the power-play, with the Habs being no.1. The Habs had a hard time against the Bruins on the p.p., but if they can manage to bring it back now that Saku Koivu is back then they will do well as the Flyers are an undisciplined team. Daniel Briere will be deaf when he leaves the Bell Centre, and may have to work on his confidence as well as the Montreal fans will let him have it big time. Montreal has the edge in coaching staff, and defence, as well as in between the pipes. With Mike Knuble, and Simon Gagne out, for sure the Habs have the edge in offence as well, question is, will Philly be able to contain it for seven games if necessary? Montreal should win this one, as the Flyers only impressed themselves by winning, but you never know, still the Habs should prevail if their power-play clicks, and they play their game, and don’t play the Flyers way, yes the Flyers have Steve Downie, but the Habs have Steve Begin, Tom Kostopoulos, Francis Bouillon, and Maxim Lapierre to a lesser extent. The Habs two best players in Alex Kovalev, and Carey Price, are better than the two best players of the Flyers in Mike Richards, and Daniel Briere. Should be a good one to watch.

“We’re talking, and things are moving forward,” Jackson said. “We think things are very positive.”

Like all other pending unrestricted free agent “who signed a one-year deal before the season started,” Ribeiro is now eligible to sign a new deal with the Stars.

Detroit Red Wings pending unrestricted free agent goalie Chris Osgood tells Ansar Khan of mLive.com that he expects to sign a contract extension with the Red Wings “by the end of this month, if not sooner.”

Osgood says he would like to play in the NHL for at least three more season.

“I went into the year thinking three more years,” Osgood said. “I always said I’ll play until I’m 38, then I’ll make a decision.”

Khan also reports that pending UFA forward Darren McCarty would like to resume his NHL career. McCarty is expected to suit up for the IHL’s Flint Generals this week to get in shape and regain his game form.

“He expressed interest in getting back in the NHL and asked if I could help him out,” [McCarty's former Red Wings linemate Kris] Draper said. “The first thing he did was spend three weeks at Core (Fitness Center in Troy), doing a lot of off-ice stuff, some on-ice stuff. I said to him, ‘When you’re ready to start practicing with players, we’ll take it to the next level.’ He’s still waiting on clearance from the NHL. He didn’t think it was going to be a problem.

“Looks like Mac has decided to commit himself to get back into the NHL. We’ll see where it goes from here.”

Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests that if New York Rangers continue to boo defenseman Marek Malik so consistently, the club may have to trade the blueliner.

If that should happen, the team would have to find a third-pair replacement.