This Week's Edition of "Between the Boards"

Well hello again puck heads and welcome to another edition of between the board…


We must start in the East where is the biggest news has to be the Ottawa Senators not being able to pay there players. Imagine if your company had a letter in your pay check we can’t pay you . This shows the economic struggles in the NHL. Not only does Ottawa have problems but the NHL is also running the Buffalo Sabers. The biggest problem in Ottawa is they have had poor ownership and the biggest things are the taxes that are killing all the Canadian franchise’ s. I must give coach martin a big thumbs up despite the money and distractions for its players they are the best team in the east. The Bruins the team I thought would dominate the east have fallen on hard times now they currently 2-9-1 in their last 13 and giving up 3.41 goals per game. This team has 2 good goalies but to be a contender you need a true number 1 goalie. A team that has a number has that guy who can steal a game and end streak. Look for the Bruins to make a deal soon. Another team that has lost it’s hold on first place in the southeast are the Bolts. The biggest reason for this slide is the play of the Bulin wall which has been pulled in his last 3 starts. This team needs to me make a deal soon or continue there streak of now 6 season with out a play off appearance.  Two teams that still amaze me are the Devils and Flyers who still continue to score goals but still win games. These teams if they did not have the goaltending they did would be middle of the pack at best. One team that is on fire since Kolzig came back our the Caps. They spent all the money on Jagr and they are playing like the team they should. They are currently 5-2-2 in their last 7. don’t look now but the Isles are now at .500 this from a team that was missing a lot of pieces earlier in the year.

Now off to the Western conference where the Red Wings are starting to show that Stanley Cup form  again. This cast of all stars is starting to get used to the new pieces in the puzzle and there are doing this with out their captain Yzerman who may not come back this season. This season Marty Turco is on the verge of setting a record for goals against in a season. His current goals against average is 1.70. It’s amazing how good the west is overall than the east. The number 2 team in the east has 49 points and that would get you a tie for 5th in the west. I don’t see why the Cup will go back to the east if this keeps up. Boris Mironov has agreed to return to the Hawks, but have they missed him they are 9-2-4-1 since he has been out of the line up. The Avs our red hot since they hired Granato 5-3-1 in there last 9. What’s even more amazing some games they have not had Sakic or Forsberg in the line up .


Instead of the good and bad list ..I want to give you something to talk about on the message boards.

The NHL is currently as we can see in some financial difficulties. Look for a shut down in NHL in less than 2 years and to hopefully fix the problems and help the long term future of the coolest game on earth. Will you still be a fan when they come back?

Next week my All Star team.!!