The Cold and Bitter NorthWest

Since we have been talking about the sunnier divisions in hockey, i thought, why not cool things down a little. So much for that. The NorthWest Division is one of the hottest competitions in the NHL. With just 7 points separating 1st and last place in the division, it only takes a small winning streak to change the look.

Minnesota Wild
The Wild are showing this season that last years division title was no mistake. With a 15-8-1 record they sit atop the Northwest division. As a team they have the second lowest goals against per game, and have the fewest goals against in the league. Captain Mikko Koivu seems to have finally come into his own, sitting 12th in the league scoring with 9 goals and 28 points. The Wild are like any other team in the division, in that they need to keep winning to stay where they are. They are a good bet for the division title, but you never can know with this division.

Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are probably where everyone put them before the beginning of the season. Their off season signing of Darcy Tucker has proved all but nothing, Tucker has a measly 4 goals and 3 assists. Many of the Av's players are struggling to play to their potential. Ryan Smyth, Wojtek Wolski, and Marek Svatos have combined for only 15 goals. Paul Stastny has clearly taken over the lead of this team as he is their only consistent player night in, and night out. Don't look for too much in Denver this year, because there wont be many surprises.

Calgary Flames
The "shames" , are all Jarome Iginla once again this year. He leads the team with 12 goals and 29 points. The off season acquisitions of Mike Cammalleri and Todd Bertuzzi have proved well as they each have 20 and 16 points respectively. The Flames seemed to have found their stride as well as they are keeping pace with Vancouver and Minnesota for the division lead. The biggest difference is the play of goalie Mikka Kipru-soft, his play has been tremendously better since the first ten or so games of the season, and as long as he is solid between the pipes, the SHAMES have a fighting chance. (at being more lame then the Cunucks)

Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers may be the biggest disappointment of the Northwest. At the beginning of the year the Oilers were predicted to be in hot competition for the division lead. As of right now, the Oilers are just struggling to stay above .500. The big under performers and maybe the reason for the disappointment for the team as a whole are young center Sam Gagner, hulking forward Dustin Penner, and newcomer Erik Cole . All of whom are way below where they should/were expected to be. The Oilers have a lot of youth and hopefully resilience. Watch them close, as a few good wins could set them on fire.

Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are probably the biggest surprise of the Northwest, as they have found a way to put the puck in the net. The Canucks are currently 8th in the league for Goals for per Game, while last year they ended up at 23rd. Weird as that is, it almost happened with some addition by subtraction for the Nucks. They lost both Brendan Morrison and captain Markus Naslund in the off season, however with a strong youth movement the Canucks have found their way. The injury to Roberto Luongo hasn't really hampered them either as they have called up blue chip goaltending prospect Cory Schneider who has shown his worth, and more. Watch out for the Canucks youngsters, as there is a possibility of them slowing down.

The Northwest may be one of the hardest divisions to predict in hockey, as proven this year once again. The team to watch right now is the Minnesota Wild , and the team not to watch is definitley the Flames! (noone likes those F*#!@ing losers anyways!)

The SouthEast

Today i will be breaking down the sunny southeast division.

Washington Capitals
Without much surprise, the Cap's are leading their division and are 3rd in the east. A slow start for Ovechkin was a slight setback, but the explosion of forward Alex Semin has been the next best thing. Nicklas Backstrom hasn't left a step since his rookie season and the team as a whole seems to be clicking. Carolina is only 3 points back, but with the new coaching change and maybe a little bit of uneasiness, it seems that the Capitals just need to keep playing solid and the division is theirs.

Atlanta Thrashers
The Thrashers had an interesting November, going on a 5 game winning streak and yet finishing the month still below the .500 mark. The Thrashers are a desperate team in need of some major changes. Their playoff hopes are simply dwindling every game. Star Ilya Kovalchuk hasn't been his usual self and is on pace for one of his worst seasons yet. The Thrashers badly need to dismantle and rework their team and farm system. No playoffs in their near future.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Steven Stamkos. The oh so highly touted rookie has only 3 goals and 11 points in 24 games. So much for rookie of the year. This is kind of the story for the whole Lightning team. As neither Vinny Lecavalier or Martin St Louis are playing to their normal selves. The Lightning find themselves in the basement of the league once again at 14th in the east. It doesn't seem like there are any playoff hopes in "HockeyBay USA" this year.

Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have fired head coach Peter Laviolette, and hired Paul Maurice. The Canes ha vent been all that bad so far this season, they are sitting in 8th place in the east, and have a winning record. They aren't surprising anyone, and look to be a playoff contender. The biggest problem in Raleigh is the fact they don't really have any one player stealing the show. Ray Whitney leads the team with only 17 points. Id keep the Canes in the playoffs, but they will need some more production out of their stars.

Florida Panthers
The brightest bit of sunshine in Florida these days is goalie Craig Anderson. He leads the league with a 1.99GAA and a Save Percentage of .943. The rest of the Panthers team has not been so sunny. Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, and Cory Stillman combine for only 14 goals. Weiss leads the team with only 14 points. David Booth has been a bright spot with a team leading 12 goals. The Panthers as a team have not been bad and are only 3 points out of a playoff spot. There is hope for the Panthers if some of their players can step it up like Anderson.

The Southeast division seems to be in slight turmoil right now, all except the leading Capitals, but the Lightning and Thrashers are in serious trouble and their lineups could look a little different by seasons end. Shakeups have already begun with the change of the head coaching job in Carolina. Should be an interesting last 60ish games.

Hot Rod is the MOST STUPID movie I have ever seen in my entire life. Andy Samberg is a T-O-O-L-!-!-!

So, let's discuss two topics today: the Insigator Rule & Rob Schremp.

1. The Instigator Rule aka. Rule 56 – Fisticuffs

The Insitgator Rule was adopted by the NHL to try and reduce the amount of bench-clearing brawls back in the '70s. Stupid Flyers. Since then, the number of fights per game has decreased dramatically and is at an all time low with .61 fights per game, but is that good for league and it's fans? Well, speaking for the fans, I haven't seen a good fight in awhile, all I get to see is Storweeny hugging, holding & cuddling his opponent while MacInretire gets his face caved in by Godard (oh wait, that was a good fight)! I believe the Insitgator Rule isn't in place for guys like them though, it was put in place to protect players, and we all know which players we are talking about. It's the Avery's and Tootoo's of the league that say their prayers every night and pray to the NHL powers-that-be that they never remove this rule while they are still active. It's a rule that rears it's head annually at the GM's meeting and is annually voted to be kept in circulation. As the rule stands now, any player who instigates a fight is automatically given a 2-minute penalty. On a side note, if you are wearing a visor and instigate a fight, you receive an additional unsportmanlike-conduct penalty. For more rules (if you have anything on your hands, ie. Tape, and cut your opponent in a fight, that's another 2 minutes) here is the link http://www.nhl.com/rules/rule56.html.

Now, personally, I would love for the Insitgator Rule to be eliminated and make it open season on some of th leagues more pesky players; I also think it would help to re-kindle some of the leagues prime rivalries; however, the biggest thing I think it would bring back to the league is something the Queen of Soul could relate too... R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Letting the players police themselves brings that respect level back into the game with a one-fight and it's over mentality. None of this 'waiting in the weeds' or 'rematch payback', but it would allow the players to simply let out their anger instead of keeping it bottled up.

I really don't have a problem with Avery, in fact, I think the majority of the shenanigans he does are hilarious and quite innovative (push-up celebrations, 'The Avery Rule') and I think he puts a spotlight on the league and any press is good press, as they say. Like him or hate him, we all want to know what Avery is going to do next. He won a cup in Detroit and if you brought back the Insitgator Rule, I don't think he would have a problem defending himself (he does have 5 Gordie Howe hat-tricks to his name), it's Jordin Tootoo that really gets my insults flowing.

Avery is a talented 2^nd or 3^rd line player capable of throwing an entire team off of it's game plan, by comparison, Tootoo plays 8 minutes per game on Nashville's 4^th line running around like a chicken with his head cut off. The guy gets 10 PIM for every 1 point, he hasn't made it out of the first-round of the playoffs and he certainly didn't help win Canada any gold medals at the World Jrs. Man, I hate this unpatriotic piece of ever living monkey crap. With the Insitgator Rule back into play, all it would take is for Ben Eager, Jared Boll or Cam Janssen to lay a 1-minute beat down on him for Jordin to realize that his wreckless play won't be tolerated (and those are guys in his own divison, not to mention the rest of the West).

Avery keeps me entertained, Tootoo makes me want to catch a two plane tickets... Ticket 1 would be to fly down to Music City and introduce Jordin to my good buddy Mr. AK-47... The second ticket would be for me to fly his bloody body out into the middle of the ocean, the alcoholic...

2. Monsieur Schremp

This is a talent that had just as many point in junior as, did one, Corey Perry; however, unlike his former London linemate, Schremp has been banished to the AHL for reasons that are basically unknown, but brutally speculated; rumors swirl about his attitude, lack of a complete game and MacT's hatred for him.Whatever is truth or what isn't, Schremp is a muchly anticipated callup for the Oilers (how funny is it that we are praising a 22-year old call-up as a success this year, rather then being in a playoff position) and, with steady playing time, has the skill set to provide a boost to the Oilers enigmatic offense. Despite all his offensive up-side, I doubt Schremp will be in a copper & blue jersey come this time next year. Think about it, if you were a 22 year old, former 1^st round pick, who had only seen 3 NHL games in your 3 years with the organization, what would you do? Think if Atlanta or Colombus had drafted him, he would have been getting 1^st PP time and a top 6 forward (predictably) for either of those teams aka. an established NHL vet. In the end, Rob Schremp is just another example of the Oilers' lack of a plan...

Finally, Big Bear-Barry had proposed two trades of his own, and I'm supposed to be the one to tell you all... 'You heard it here first!'

Nik Antropov & 1^st round pick ... for ... Rick Nash

and

Tomas Kaberle & 2^nd round pick ... for ... Jay Bouwmeester

BBB line for life.

Cheers.
-Smith

p.s. Enver Lisin is the coolest name in hockey