Making Picks on a Sunny Afternoon

Took a walk on Eighth Avenue on my lunch break. Cheap coffee and Mexican pan dulce. A tasty feast as Spring fashions are sported confidently around Midtown Manhattan.

Forget the cold. It's time to play in the sunlight. What an all-star lineup along the avenue, from 40th to Madison Square Garden. Two peep show palaces, three places to buy stylish chapeaus, hardware stores, delis, pita shops, $1 slice pizza joints. Life is an adventure, people, and this is the down and dirty. It's cheap entertainment. And if you dip into Gray's Papaya for two shaggy dogs (grilled franks hiding under mustard and a pile of sauerkraut) and a drink, it's like being on the strangest carnival midway you know.

Well, I enjoyed my brief time at the fair. Back to the office. Now I am ready for the cold. Pittsburgh/Boston at 7 pm Eastern on the big screen in the Lounge. Do I need to say why? Don't make me.

The Blues and Rangers? St. Louis is a scrappy team, but the Rangers, well, there was very little hunt in that dog against a Montreal team that does not bring intimidation to the table. Lot of soap suds floating around in the bleu blanc et rouge.



Maybe if the New York Post's Larry Brooks were coaching the team I might check it out tonight. Radio only, Blueshirts.

After that, it's double screen action for four teams that have not impressed me lately. On Center Ice, it's San Jose at Vancouver (10 pm Eastern) and Chicago at Los Angeles (10:30 Eastern). Nabby or BobbyLoo, who gets the gate first? And in beautiful SoCal, who is in net for the Blackhawks? What's the mood in that room after the brutal beating they took in Anaheim? Which Kings team shows up? Will any Kings team show up?

That's the word on the street. So watch your back out there tonight. And bundle up. Tension is building. Stomachs are turning. It could get frosty right quick. All it takes is one shot.

Dealing at the Olympic Deadline

Just a few transactions to note as the National Hockey League's Olympic trading deadline passed today.

*** TSN reports that the Chicago Blackhawks sent the defenseman Cam Barker to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman Kim Johnsson and prospect Nick Leddy, a first-round pick who is a freshman at the University of Minnesota.

*** The Ottawa Senators grabbed the defenseman Matt Cullen from the Carolina Hurricanes. The defenseman Alexandre Picard and a second-round draft pick is going the other way.

*** The battleship Jody Shelly is leaving the San Jose Sharks, who traded the forward to the New York Rangers in exchange for a draft pick. His last big battle can be viewed in the clip at the top.

Snow Days and the Olympic Break

Getting ready for the Vancouver Olympics, and that means it's the perfect time for the Recess Monkeys' cover of the Chilliwack's "My Girl." It doesn't quite measure up to the original performed in the late 1981 by the band out of Vancouver. But it's the thought that counts. Thanks, SCTV.

*** The state of Ryan Getzlaf's health has prompted a summit meeting among the heads of Team Canada. Getzlaf underwent an MRI, which the Anaheim Ducks said found no "significant ligament or muscle tears."

His day-to-day status has Team Canada chief Steve Yzerman taking the same approach, but with a limited number of days left before the Olympic hockey tournament begins, there has to be a plan, and it has to be announced soon.



*** I have to say that Russia is the team that most interests me. I like the skill level on the forward and back lines. I think this team can compete on the small ice. What would concern me if I were running the Russian operation is the goaltending.

On some nights, Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov plays a man's game. On other nights, he can be as unimpressive as the list of things to do or find in San Jose.

(Need help? I'll give you the first two on the list: 1. Finding a ride to San Francisco. 2. Finding a ride to Monterey.)

That's why Ilya Bryzgalov is the critical player in my projection of Russia as the gold medal winner in Vancouver. After all, I've looked up and down the roster, and there is no Giorgy to turn to when times get tough.

*** From where I'm sitting, with my face pressed to the window overlooking Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, the snow storm does not look as severe as feared. That means the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers most likely will play tonight at MSG 4.0

Larry Brooks of the New York Post says Marian Gaborik is not expected to be in the lineup for the game. Gaborik. Rangers' main scoring threat. Rangers' lone scoring threat? He received a deep thigh cut when he came across the skate of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in practice on Tuesday.

Brooks says Gaborik may not be in action again until the Olympic tournament starts. But that is of no help to the Rangers, who need him to score early and often.

I'm off to shovel some snow.

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.