he just dropped matt carkner a couple of weeks ago, although he was always afraidn to fight laraque

In most cases (Laraque is the perfect example) it would be stupid for Lucic to fight a goon. Unless he's jumping in to defend a teammate or something, it doesn't make sense for Lucic to spend 5 minutes sitting in the box with someone from the other team who's only going to play 5 minutes in the game. He's too valuable to be wasted like that.

it all depends on the situation. if he's lined up against carkner and carkners chirping about running his teammtes, then there's nothing wrong w/ fighting carkner. laraque wasnt really a goon, he was just a great fighter...like every black dude in the nhl

yea, i wouldnt consider hor-hay a goon by any stretch. a great fighter for sure, but a goodn that is all he is good at.

george can at least lay defense and i seen him enough as a pen to know he had great puck control in the corner and wasnt a terrible passer

zack rinaldo may be a honorary black dude after last nights fight

also, tom sestito is the new great one

Only the Islanders would be in the business of acquiring players that are refusing to play.

I think the moral of this story is: if you hate Obama so much that you refuse to play hockey for a year, you will be cast into exterior darkness (aka Long Island).

I'm starting to get a better understanding of why it took Thomas so long to get to the NHL.

It gives them cap space to have a fire sale at the trade deadline without having to take a salary dump back. They were only $3m above the floor before the deal and word is Visnovsky may have to go back to Slovakia depending on how his son's surgery goes this weekend. If he leaves again that would've put them $2m under the floor.

Edit: It's also a decent insurance policy for if Nabokov gets injured this year and the Islanders happen to be in contention. I'm sure they could get Thomas to play, we all know there is no way DiPietro could carry the load.

Are you trying to say that Thomas may be some kind of dickhead or something?

I understand the logic of it, it's just such an Islanders thing to be looking to add a dead weight contract so they can have a fire-sale.

It's not just for a firesale, that's just the more likely scenario. They could make a trade now that could help them without having to worry about matching up salary. For example, trade Visnovsky for a player that's still on their ELC.

If they end up doing that, then it's actually not a bad move, since it gives them more flexibility to continue building for the future. Either way, it just reeks of a cheap owner making sure his team follows the rules without actually having to spend any money.

A couple of NHL things that I have been thinking about recently.

1. Thomas Vanek is on a different planet right now. He is at a place I never thought he could be in the over coached Lindy Ruff "system" When you are playing like Vanek is, it just doesn't matter. The guys has 10 goals 11 assists and 21 points. He even missed a game with a lower body injury. It's too bad Ryan Miller has been below average and Tyler Myers is a -9.

2. Pretty cool to see Pittsburgh native and US World Junior champion JT Miller get his first two NHL goals. He was born in 1993. Born, raised, NHL goal in less time than the Pirates have had to achieve a winning season. Your move Pirates....

3. Have you got a chance to see Cory Conacher yet? Kid was a 17 year old freshman and was the youngest player in the nation when he made his debut at Canisius College. He has diabetes and his parents wouldn't let him play junior hockey away from home. He is from Burlington, not far from Buffalo so Canisius worked for them. He had a great career at Canisius and was a Hobey Baker finalist as a senior. Last season, on a one way AHL deal, CC won the AHL Rookie of the Year, MVP and a Calder Cup with Norfolk. He is in Tampa now and has 5 goals and 8 assists. Real great story. Real great kid. The kind of thing we would have missed without an NHL season.

4. Pat Kane is killing it. Could he be the first US born player to win a scoring title? The Blackhawks are a scary team. Look out if they find goaltending.

Kane is the key to the team I think. We know what we'll get from Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Keith, etc.... He can be either an ok player or play like how he is now. If Kane keeps playing at this level we'll go far. And the goaltending has been pretty good thus far. We don't need them to be all-star level with the defense and scoring, but they are playing well now.

First of all, Fuck You Jobu is one of the best internet names I have ever seen. Nicely played.

I have been watching Pat Kane play since he was ten years old. I don't think he ever played in a game that he wasn't the best player on the ice till he got to the NHL. He is also very immature and that is obvious to anyone frustrated by his antics the last few years. My brother plays at Yale and skates with PK during the summer and he really is a good down to earth kid. As long as his father isn't around. The prep school my brother played for has a summer league called the FHL and the summer after the Hawks won the Cup Kane played on my brothers team. They also had Cory Conacher and a bunch of other D1 players. It was silly to watch what Kane can do in a league with no checking that is made for dangles and scoring. Just silly.

I hope Kane is ready to take the next step in his career. If he wants to be serious he can walk into the Hall of Fame. Look at all he has accomplished as an immature kid.

Sad Kane story, more about what a jerk Mr. Kane is. I worked in a Buffalo Public School that Kane grew up down the street from. One of the teachers there previously taught at the Catholic Elementary School that Kane went to. She taught him in first or second grade, still lives in the neighborhood, and raises money for the Catholic School. Anyway, they are getting a fund raiser together and she sees Pat's parents at church. She asks if Pat might have a jersey or picture or something to donate to the school. Mr. Kane said, "sure, stop by after church." His family still lives in the house he grew up in and answered the door for my teacher friend. He said, "You can head in the basement and pick out whatever you want. The tags with the prices are on it."

He wanted her to pay. Ha. Tough crowd. It isn't always like that though. I don't want to totally throw the kid under the bus. When my brother was the Captain of the St. Francis Prep team Kane brought him a signed jersey and hat and played 9 holes at the golf tournament. Like I said, he is a good kid. I expect him to easily be the best hockey player ever born and raised in Buffalo, NY and he has the chance to be the best USA born player ever.

Thanks!

Yeah if Kane has truly matured, he has the skills to be one of the best in the league. So far he's playing like it. Maybe Capt Serious finally got to him

I have no idea whether Grabovski attempted to bite, but someone should tell Pacioretty that if you put your wrist directly into another players mouth from behind and proceed to pull hard backwards... it's probably going to leave tooth marks on your arm.

And then, of course, Habs players come out and say he needs to be a man... while forgetting to mention that all of this happened while Grabovski had just dropped his gloves and gone after Prust to stand up for his teammate.

I loved this game, but Habs fans drive me insane.

Another night and another goal for Thomas Vanek. 11 games and 11 goals. Ryan Miller was unreal tonight. The Sabres got 2 points because Miller stole them.

Tyler Myers watched the game from the press box tonight. I hope somthing clicked. The Sabres need him.

remember, these are the same fans who called 911 after the Chara hit...