Trouble in Calgary, Boston and the QMJHL

Some quick thoughts after a late night in the Lounge.

***San Jose has some of the best restaurants in the nation, that is, if you are only counting those with drive-through lanes and value menus. And Sharks fans were treated to the opening of another drive-through, this one involving the Calgary Flames, who had no answer in a 9-1 loss to the Sharks on Monday night. Eight different scorers.Two goals for Dany Heatley. A full order of heartburn, to go, for Flames Coach Brent Sutter. Click on that link and you will see a picture of a man who doesn't need any late night chili or two-for-99-cent tacos to feel upset after last night's performance by the Flames.

***Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley doesn't get out much, or at least out to the West Coast much, and it sounds like he wants to give the Bruins a pass for their weak effort Monday afternoon at home against the Ottawa Senators. The trail of tears for the Bruins can be traced to their oh-so-tough three-game visit to California. Oh, did he mention that the Bruins never have to leave the Eastern time zone the rest of the regular season? Checking, checking, looking, searching. Nope. The big, bad, drowsy Bruins will never face the challenges that, say, Vancouver does. The Canucks are in a division with three teams in the Mountain time zone and one in the Central. The Western Conference has teams in the Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern time zones. The Eastern Conference? All in the Eastern time zone. Weak. Lame. Lazy. That's for the column angle, the Bruins' performance and the schedule that tucks the Eastern Conference teams in bed at a reasonable hour for all but a handful of games.

***Patrick King of Sportsnet asks whether the star power of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player Patrice Cormier will allow him to avoid the type of punishment Michael Liambas drew from the Ontario Hockey League for a hit from behind earlier this season. Cormier, who was the captain of Canada's silver-medal team in the 2010 World Junior Championship tournament, is a top prospect for the New Jersey Devils. Liambas, a role player in the OHL, did not have an NHL team waiting for him. After being banned from the OHL, Liambas fell to the International Hockey League, were he was recently punished for an illegal hit from behind. Cormier, who delivered questionable hits in tune-ups for the WJC, has the support of Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello, who told the Bergen Record he believed that neither criminal charges nor a season-long suspension was warranted for the elbow. The QMJHL gave an indefinite suspension to Cormier on Monday, pending a full review of the incident involving his hit on Quebec's Mikael Tam, who has been released from the hospital. In the meantime, Puck Daddy gives a full review of the situation and what others are saying around junior hockey and the National Hockey League.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Ottawa 5, at Boston 1
At N.Y. Islanders 4, New Jersey 0
Tampa Bay 3, at Carolina 2
At Columbus 4, St. Louis 2
Buffalo 7, at Phoenix 2
At Florida 1, Atlanta 0
Toronto 4, at Nashville 3
At Dallas 4, Minnesota 3
At Colorado 6, Edmonton 0
At San Jose 9, Calgary 1
The standings are here.
Recap by Sportsnet.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
All-Star Skills Competition
Canada 18, Planet USA 12
The recap is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
Charlotte 6, at Gwinnett 4
At Reading 4, Trenton 3
The standings are here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Plymouth 7, Windsor 4
Kitchener 6, at Erie 1
The standings are here.
The Kitchener/Erie recap is here, and the Windsor/Plymouth recap is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Youngstown 7, Team USA 3
The standings are here.