Phightins

Anders Lindback also has a ton of potential. Amazing how Nashville is always pumping out these goalies.

Always nice when the opponent has a 10-day contract on the floor in the 4th.

Yeah I bought shoes also. They will pay for themselves in like, 2 weeks.

Plus [expletive]ing 1. Sorry I missed this until now.

I would say Ryan Kesler but he is slowly becoming a "household name" this season. Also, basically everybody on the Dallas Stars roster. Except for Brad Richards maybe, a lot of those guys aren't known by casual fans. And they have a very talented team. Shane Doan has played his entire career in the country's worst hockey market, so the same goes for him. Speaking of Coyotes, Keith Yandle is awesome. It's an interesting question, because there are tons of really good players out there that nobody knows about because of how dead hockey is in some cities.

Kimmo Timonen

Wake me up when this is over.

And now Napoli is on his way to Texas. I am guessing the Angels are not too thrilled with the Blue Jays for trading Napoli right back into the division.

Eh. The "sources" seem to change their mind about this every week, so I will still not believe anything I read until the deadline passes and they are either gone or still here. I don't think Brand was ever a realistic trade candidate, due to his contract/age/injury history. Maybe that changed with the dominant start to the season he's had, maybe it hasn't. But while we are on this topic (prepare for rant)... The biggest problem with the NBA is that it is 100% impossible to get good value for players like this, so in theory, it is probably not worth trading them. Draft picks are pretty useless to the Sixers unless they are guaranteed to be near the top. The teams that would be trading for an Iguodala-type are most likely playoff teams with worthless picks. Cap space is also worthless to a team like the Sixers. In this age, there are almost no superstars, and the few that exist basically get to dictate where they are going to play. No superstars are coming here. So it is a [expletive]ty situation. Keep this core together and be stuck in "neutral" for the foreseeable future, or trade them away without getting nearly enough "value". Tough decisions (although it isn't that tough when you look at it this way). Although, as I have been saying recently, I love the strides this team has made this year. All credit to Doug Collins. But they are still no better than a first round exit. That isn't changing any time soon because of the way the league is structured. Basically the main reason that I have personally had a difficult time getting attached to the NBA, compared to the other leagues. Anywho, /rant. Carry on!

I was doing homework all night. At about 9:15 I looked at the clock and could not believe I had missed the entire game. It was a bummer.

The Diamondbacks signed Micah Owings to a minor league contract. Plan is to use him as a pitcher and at 1B. Interesting.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g96/philsphan1210/Picture1-40.png So true.

I think we need to hear more details before jumping to conclusions, one way or the other. With that said, I am not a Jay Cutler fan regardless of what happened today.

The biggest reason to come: "Diesel" will be in attendance.

..What?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6_kQfqYJy8

We still need to work out the details. A couple of my friends will be there also.

Yep. As I have been saying, the progress this year has been great. It may not be showing up in the W/L all the time, but it is there. And most importantly from a fan's perspective, they are fun to watch again. None of the boring, hopeless garbage of the past 3-4 years. Regardless of how the season ends results wise, this has been a very successful year.

No Crosby/Malkin at All Star Game. Mike Richards as a replacement?

Super cheap veteran at a position of need. Seems to make sense to me.

Roloson is a totally different situation. Nabokov doesn't have any leverage. He's the guy who decided to ditch and go to the KHL. If he wants back into the NHL this season, fine, but it is not going to be on his terms, as he just learned.

The Islanders need a goaltender. They had a chance to grab one for super cheap and they did. Their place in the standings is irrelevant. Completely irrelevant. If anything, it makes this more logical. They need somebody to play, Nabokov comes along the waiver wire for quarter of a million dollars. They do not need to cater to the needs of the other 29 teams just because they are not a playoff team. It made sense for them, so they pulled the trigger. Again, the rule sucks (not waivers in general, but applying waivers to free agents coming over from Europe midseason). So hate the rule, not the team.

I guess we will have to disagree. I don't see how the Islanders can possibly be criticized for this. They have a hole on their roster, guy who fills the hole perfectly falls to them in waivers. They'd have been doing a disservice to the team and the fans by not placing a claim. That's how waivers work. I don't see how a standard transaction translates to unnecessary attention. I dislike the Islanders, I think they are a POS organization (as evidenced by the Chris Botta incident earlier this year), but they are in the right here. Sure, Nabokov has every right to not report. So maybe calling him a "tool" was a bit too harsh, it's his right. But his agent knew how the system works so this had to have been expected.

The waiver process for free agents coming from Europe midseason has been around for a while. I am not saying I agree with it (the concept kind of sucks: one team does all the scouting and negotiating and another team reaps the benefits), but the process has been there for years. He knew this was going to happen. The Islanders did absolutely nothing wrong by claiming him, especially considering their goalie situation right now. They'd have been foolish to pass up the chance.

It's not like this is Patrick Roy attempting a comeback here. Remember, this is a guy who was out of the NHL because nobody wanted to pay him $5 million last summer. If he really wants back into the NHL, he needs to realize that this is the path he needs to follow.