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In The Rafters
In this space, we wanted to honor FTR founder James Mirtle by retiring his number. But since he's not wearing a number, we're putting the sportcoat from his photo in the rafters.
Thanks for everything, James!
After The First Round, NHL Draft Is A Crapshoot
by Cory Lavalette on Feb 10, 2010 5:00 AM CST
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As the Olympic break approaches, teams on the fringe of the playoff hunt must decide if they will be buyers, sellers or observers before the NHL trade deadline. Carolina and Toronto have already begun their rebuilds — the Maple Leafs by adding Dion Phaneuf and Jean-Sebastian Giguere, while the Hurricanes shipped out long-time defenseman Nic Wallin and a fifth-round pick for a second-round selection.
The Leafs received two proven — albeit pricey — commodities: one a Conn Smythe-winning and Stanley Cup champion goalie, the other a one-time Norris Trophy finalist. Carolina GM Jim Rutherford, on the other hand, received Buffalo's second-round pick, which figures to be in the 40s or 50s come June. While it's a great return for a role player with an expiring contract, the trade of Wallin for a pick doesn't guarantee a future player for Carolina.
In fact, the NHL is a league cluttered with first-rounders, the undrafted and players selected in rounds that no longer even exist.
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Dallas Goalie Move (Moves?)
by Mike Chen on Feb 9, 2010 10:08 PM CST
4 comments
The Atlanta Thrashers continue to retool, this time by moving oft-injured (but talented) goalie Kari Lehtonen to Dallas for Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round draft pick in the 2010 draft. With Marty Turco on the cusp of unrestricted free agency, it makes sense for the Stars to get what they can in exchange for their goalie of the 2000s. Current scuttlebutt has the Philadelphia Flyers talking to Dallas about Turco.
Does this mean that Dallas is throwing in the towel for this season despite only being a few points out of a playoff spot?
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FTR Roundtable: Rumors, Lightning Ownership, & More
by Mike Chen on Feb 9, 2010 3:00 PM CST
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Every Monday (except this week, when news and posts bumped this to Tuesday), the FTR crew will review the biggest hockey news from the past week.
-The Kovalchuk situation fired off a frenzy of a Twitter and blog frenzy, including a post here at FTR. What sources can fans trust?
Mike: In this day and age, it seems like new flies from Twitter to blog to mainstream site almost instantly. That leaves a lot of people claiming to have "sources" when they're really just repeating what else they find. We caused a bit of a stir with our Kovalchuk-to-LA post, but the source was trusted among SBN, so we decided to run it, even though you won't find too many rumors on SBN. In general, the Twitter accounts of the TSN folks and USA Today's Kevin Allen are probably the most reliable sources. If there's a site or a board you visit with a juicy rumor and you trust the source, the rumor may be valid -- but keep in mind that GMs talk to each other all the time, and there are plenty of deals that fall apart at the last minute due to a hangup or two. Chatroom fodder and rumor websites will get you educated guesses and speculation. For me, I always read Lyle "Spector" Richardson every day, as he rounds up rumors with cited sources.
FrankD: It's fun to follow breaking stories and rumors on Twitter. Some are a bit ridiculous, while others more likely. I think educated hockey fans know how to differentiate between something that is far fetched and something that is a possible, but at the same time speculation and hypothetical posts of "Player X may go to Team Y" make for some fun, interesting and at times even very intense discussions. Why not give people a place to discuss the possibilities? Why not give fans a chance to breakdown the potential players or picks that may be involved in the moves? I don't expect people to be right 100% of the time and I don't hold it against anyone for being wrong either. "Wrong," in and of itself, is a loose term anyway because you can never really say how close a speculated rumor came to being completed before another team swept in from out of nowhere and changed the playing field. Even afterward, if a team admits they weren't in on the trade rumors, do you really think they'd want the locker room to think a few heads were on the chopping block? I highly doubt it. So they'll go ahead and say, "We were never interested." I think too many people bank far too much on who said what, when, where and why. An educated fan who trusts his analysts, sites or blogs will know when to open up a rumor or dismiss it as garbage.
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Carolina, Minnesota, Columbus, San Jose, Boston & Phoenix To Open 2010-11 Overseas
The NHL announced that six teams will kick off the 2010-11 season overseas. Carolina and Minnesota will play Oct. 7 and 8 in Helsinki, Finland; Columbus and San Jose have a pair in Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 8 and 9; and Boston and Phoenix will close things out in Prague, Czech Republic, Oct. 9 and 10.
Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, whose company Compuware sponsors the overseas events, is set to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. You can watch the live feed at 2 p.m. on the Hurricanes home page.
SBN Gameday: Snakes on the Ladder
by Mike Chen on Feb 9, 2010 11:53 AM CST
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Tonight's soundtrack: Snakes on the Ladder by Handsome Furs -- because just about every team playing tonight has the playoff traction of a snake trying to climb up rungs.
Game of the Night
Calgary Flames at Ottawa Senators, 7:30 PM EST
Jarome Iginla is struggling, and Brent Sutter is adjusting assignments to accommodate. The Senators don't want their sluggish 5-0 loss to Toronto to become a habit.
Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres, 7 PM EST
The Bruins are optimistic that their victory over Montreal ended their woes while the Sabres miss the momentum-change shifts of Patrick Kaleta.
Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 PM EST
With the Hurricanes saying farewell to Niclas Wallin, who else might be leaving soon? Florida's buy/sell status isn't quite as clear.
Nashville Predators at NY Islanders, 7 PM EST
Matt Martin, welcome to the NHL. Perhaps you'll stick around like Cal O'Reilly, who's finally a Nashville regular.
Vancouver Canucks at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 PM EST
Pavol Demitra will not be joining the Canucks as they continue on their massive road trip. Journeyman-with-upside Mark Parrish is on his way to Tampa Bay.
Detroit Red Wings at St. Louis Blues, 8 PM EST
The Red Wings have some game-time decisions facing their battered roster as they head into St. Louis for a Central Division match-up.
Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 PM EST
Second City Hockey ponders the latest trade rumors involving the Hawks. Their opponent tonight, the Dallas Stars, have bigger issues to ponder involving team ownership
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Ryan Getzlaf, the team's leading scorer, sprained his left ankle during the second period and left the arena wearing a boot and on crutches. X-rays were negative, but an MRI exam is scheduled for Tuesday.
"That will give us a better indication of the severity of the sprain," Coach Randy Carlyle said.
-This cracks the door open a bit for a possible Team Canada replacement. Do you go with Steven Stamkos (32 goals, 29 assists) as a potential replacement? Or do you gamble with a hot hand like the revitalized Jason Spezza?-Update: Check out Kevin's FanPost breaking down potential replacements.
An interview with Tampa Bay Lightning Head Athletic Trainer Tommy Mulligan
by FrankD on Feb 9, 2010 6:00 AM CST
in Interviews
3 comments
Personal trainer. Athletic trainer. There is a difference. As a regular gym rat of sorts, I've worked with personal trainers in the past. Athletic trainers? Not so much. I didn't know the exact differences for a while, but then again, I never really had anyone working in either field willing to explain it to me.
Enter Tommy Mulligan, head athletic trainer for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tommy was kind enough to lend a few minutes of his time to explain the differences between a personal trainer and athletic trainer (and why the term "trainer" doesn't specify any difference), inform me of the education behind the occupation, as well as lend a few examples of work he's done in the past with players on the Lightning.
Take the jump for a quick Q&A session with Lightning athletic trainer Tommy Mulligan. Hopefully you'll walk away a bit more en"Light"ened.
Man, that was bad. I'll show myself out...
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Rink Side Radio Tonight from 9-10!
by Joe Fortunato on Feb 8, 2010 4:47 PM CST
in Rink Side Radio
2 comments
(Mike's note: I'm bumping this to the top but in case you missed it, scroll down for more on Bob Gainey's resignation as Montreal GM.)
Hey guys, it's Monday again and you know what that means; Rink Side Radio! You don't want to miss tonight's show since we have a plethora of guests coming on.
Julian Sanchez from Pension Plan Puppets will be on at the top of the hour to talk about the tragic deal of Bendan Burke and a little about the fundraiser they are doing (yet again) to help all of those who are dealing with homosexual discrimination.
John Fischer (In Lou we Trust) and Matt Gunning (Bird Watchers Anonymous) will be joining us right after that to chat about the Thrashers Devils swap that saw Ilya Kovalchuk move to New Jersey.
Then my editing manager Jim Schmiedeberg (Blueshirt Banter) will be joining us to talk about the Olli Jokinen deal and what that means for the Rangers and the Flames!
And finally Rob L (Habs Eyes on the Prize) will be joining us to chat about Bob Gainey stepping down as the general manager of Montreal.
We're booked solid guys so make sure to give us a listen. You can listen live and download the archived version at this link here. You can also listen live at the bottom of this post but remember you can't access the chat unless you are listening at the actual Blog Talk Radio show page.
Remember the number to call is in (646) 595-2440, we love taking your calls so make sure to call in early and often. Hope to see you all tonight!
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