Is John Tavares of the New York Islanders one of the 25 best players in the NHL under the age of 25?

As of Sunday, he's 12th in the League in scoring with 48 points in 46 games. His career points per game average stands at 0.82. He's 53 percent on faceoffs, and is tied with Michael Grabner with 56 takeaways to lead the Islanders.

But Neil Greenberg goes deeper than the available stats. He's a columnist for the Washington Post and ESPN.com, analyzing the NHL using advanced statistics and metrics that purport to show the real value and output of a player.

When I saw Greenberg at a Washington Capitals game recently, he spoke about taking some heat for a list he published on ESPN: The Top 25 NHL Players the Under Age of 25 (sub. required). The pitchforks and torches were understandable: Jeff Skinner and Tyler Seguin were omitted due to sample size. Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene were left off due to Greenberg's analysis, as was Tavares.

The Islanders broadcast team of Howie Rose and Butch Goring caught wind of the snub, and torched Greenberg on their broadcast on Saturday night — a game against the Carolina Hurricanes that saw Tavares score both goals, including the OT game winner.

Via KeithLHHockey, this is a bit of Rose and Goring on the snub. (Listen to the whole thing here.)

ROSE: I don't know if you happened to see an article in a national online publication recently, but someone actually wrote that … there was a list of 25 players under 25 in the National Hockey League. Can you believe that John Tavares was not on that list? Are you kidding me? Now think about that: We're just talking about players that are under 25.

When he was criticized for that, he came up with some kind of goofball numerical response. I don't know who this house-bound agoraphobe is, but I suggest he open the shades in room, get a little light in there and watch the games and stop playin' around with, you know, computer-based [cross talk] and calculators … give me a break! Open your eyes! You can make a case that John Tavares is among the 25 best players in the league! Nevermind under 25 years of age. That's just dumb.

GORING: I suggest the guy cover another sport. Clearly he has no idea what this sport is all about.

ROSE: That's just stupid. There's no other way to put it. Unless there's some kind of personal agenda. If you just want to be controversial. That's why I'm no mentioning his name. I'm not going to give him the satisfaction.

GORING: Other than stooge. Is that what you're calling him?

Ouch.

With Islanders fans, broadcasters and ESPN's own Katie Strang disagreeing with the assessment, Greenberg wrote a piece titled "Why John Tavares is good, not great" (sub. required) that detailed his reasoning, including:

Zone Starts. Tavares is seen as having an advantage by starting in the offensive zone at even strength more than 56 percent of the time for his career, when the average for all forwards is 27 percent. He scores more because he's given a chance to; it's the same argument frequently made by advanced stats critics about the Sedins.

Wrote Greenberg:

"Being fed soft minutes (high offensive zone starts against non-top line competition) is a smart coaching move, one that puts your best players in a position to succeed. However, it is enough context to also keep you off my list in favor of a more seasoned player like Nashville forward Sergei Kostitsyn."

Clutch Performance. A measurement that Greenberg developed, it rates "how much a player contributes to his team's victories." The bottom line here: "When Tavares is on the ice, more shots are aimed at the Islanders' net than the opposition's. And when he is not with his most frequent linemates (Moulson, Parenteau and Kyle Okposo), it is even worse."

This argument is like being stuck in a room with Billy Beane's stats guy and his scouts in "Moneyball" — they know talent when they see it based on time-honored standards, and someone is trying to change the way we think about evaluating a player.

With due respect to advanced statisticians — whose work has certainly changed the way this writer approaches things like the Selke Trophy — the notion that Patrik Berglund, Bryan Little and Sergei Kostitsyn should be ranked ahead of John Tavares on this list or any list is ridiculous. Yet they're all ahead of Tavares on the ESPN list.

Maybe it's a crusty, old school notion, but there's something to be said for intangibles. Tavares has them, along with effective play on both sides of the puck. And he's only getting better.

Lately on social media, Evander Kane of the Winnipeg Jets has been tagging tweets with "Ray Charles To The [Expletive]," a line from "She Will" by Lil Wayne and Drake; with messages like "to all the great Fans [that] don't hate I appreciate."

Kane, currently out of the lineup with a concussion, is leading the Jets in goal scoring this season. But his relationship with some fans and the media has had its challenges — like recently scuttlebutt about his dining (and dashing) habits.

This sign, about Kane skipping out on bills, made its way around social media before Kane himself dismissed it on Saturday.

But that acknowledgement launched a slew of gossip about Kane that Gary Lawless, a columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, called "disgusting" as his newspaper had to shut down its comments section on Saturday night.

What's happening with the relationship between fans, media and the Jets' brightest young star?

From Lawless, an interesting backstory on the sign:

The offending sign first appeared at a Jets game in Ottawa last week: "Dear Evander: Please stop walking out on your bills. Sincerely, Winnipeg servers and restauranteurs."

Kane posted the picture on his Twitter account with the message, "Ha, Ha. What a complete lie this is but I really like the colours on the poster."

The Jets were refusing comment on Saturday, but in making calls to Winnipeg restaurants I was able to learn that NHL security had conducted an investigation into the matter. A Jets executive confirmed this and stated the investigation came up empty. The folks in the restaurant business that I spoke with had good things to say about Kane.

Jets Nation's Scott Taylor, who's covered hockey in Winnipeg since 1976, covered the sign controversy and added some additional gossip about Kane being involved in an altercation "at a Winnipeg bar called Whiskey Dix," with his concussion admission somehow tied to that altercation.

He also noted that Kane has ended up on TheDirty.com, "a social stigma website that pays tribute to those who act like douchenozzles in public places."

On the Lawless column, Taylor wrote:

A local Winnipeg newspaper columnist called a couple of local restaurants (two to be precise), and defended Kane from the nasty implications, but what all this suggests is that somehow, some way, in a small prairie city that actually worships its professional hockey players, one of those players has angered enough people to become much less than worshipped.

… for a kid who wanted a trade early in the season, has responded with improved play to two benchings and has been the most explosive offensive force on a team that can't score, this just might be another wake-up call. Because when you've pissed off a fan base that wants to love you as much as their own family members, you're probably doing something wrong.

Lawless writes that he's been critical of Kane in the past; as it was here, the criticism has often been constructive.

But Lawless's primary advice is to the fans in treating the Jets: "They shouldn't be handled any differently than anyone else. They shouldn't be lied about and they shouldn't have to face irresponsible attacks on their character."

Even if those players are Ray Charles to the [expletive].

(Ed. Note: Neither Taylor nor Lawless mention that along with being a talented, brash young NHL player, Evander Kane is also of African-Canadian heritage. That's either commendable or naïve, but it does seem like an odd omission when dealing with a stereotypical knock like how to handle payment at a restaurant. But that's just my hypersensitive American media take on the matter.)

It's downright inexplicable, really, how low the Buffalo Sabres have fallen. A second-tier contender last season, you'd have thought the offseason spending spree would have put them over the top, not into the basement.

But, as of this writing, Buffalo's tied for last place in points in the East (with two games in-hand). They're a disaster.

So who is at fault for the Sabres' dismal season? While defending Brad Boyes, owner Terry Pegula blamed injuries:

"I don't want to single out Brad," Pegula said. "Look who he plays with every night. It changes a lot. He's another guy [who was injured]. ... I have to believe we're a better hockey team than we were last year. We just didn't have this massive, catastrophic injury problem. Put yourself in anybody's place in the organization. How do you evaluate what's going on?"

Meanwhile, our own Ryan Lambert recently asked why Pegula himself was escaping blame.

For the record, while I love me some Lambert, blaming Terry Pegula for this is a little like suing your father-in-law after you injure yourself on a honeymoon that he paid for.

That said, the major difference in Buffalo between this year and last year is the new money.

The Sabres have become the Great Gatsby of the NHL, and their extravagant spending is now being held up as the latest example of what not to do in free agency.

Here's Eric Duhatschek from the Globe and Mail:

It's a mess and cleaning it up is going to be a challenge because of a lesson that every GM with money to burn eventually realizes - the free-agent premiums you pay to sign players on July 1 will come back to haunt you eventually. Strange how roles reverse. The Sabres' New York state rivals, the Rangers, finally figured that out. They now operate the way the Detroit Red Wings do - with judicious free-agent buys (Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik) supplemented by a whole lot of homegrown talent (just about everybody else on their NHL roster). The Sabres, meanwhile, take a page out of the Rangers' old operating manual and it blows up in their faces.

But, in fairness to spending without restraint, don't let "the liberal media" claim it's a crime to have money. Despite what the Muppets would have you believe, the rich guy isn't always the bad guy.

While the Sabres are becoming a cautionary tale, this season has also yielded an extravagant success story.

Back in December, after all, the Florida Panthers were being hailed as one of the surprises of the season's first three months, and they were just as busy as Buffalo in the summer, if not moreso. However, because things are going well for them, the organization is being praised for the exact same thing many claim Buffalo did wrong. From the Miami Herald:

These Panthers got thrown together with a free agency spending spree and a few trades. So much so that Washington goalie Tomas Vokoun, the No. 1 goalie the past four seasons, said there's "only five guys I played with" still on the Panthers.

"Although we have a lot of new guys, it was done with a purpose, not just random pieces hoping it was going to work," Weiss said. "There was thought put into it, a plan in mind to bring in character people who wanted to turn it around."

So what do we make of these contradictory outcomes?

I'm of the mind that that relying on free agency is a big gamble because you never quite know how a player will adjust to a new environment, not to mention how they'll change it.

But it's not always the wrong move.

Sure, in Buffalo's case, the tactic appears to have thrown the team chemistry into disarray. In Florida, however, the core was solidified.

In short, at the risk of sounding like an American propagandist, let's not sour completely on extravagant spending just yet. If we do that, the terrorists win.

Saturday afternoon's Boston Bruins game ended the same way as their last Saturday afternoon game: with a dangerous, suspendable hit that led to a major penalty and a game-winning powerplay goal for their opponent. It's something of a Saturday afternoon tradition in Boston, like the ABC movie of the week.

The incident occurred midway through the overtime frame between the Bruins and the New York Rangers, as Andrew Ference chipped a puck into the Boston zone then shoved Rangers' blueliner Ryan McDonagh into the end boards while trying to retrieve it. For this, he has been suspended three games. Here's Shanahan with the explanation:

For those of you keeping a ledger for whatever reason, Ference will forfeit $36,486.48 to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. Moving on.

What stands out, to me, from this video is Shanahan's observation that McDonagh did nothing whatsoever to contribute to the danger of this play. Typically in these hits, the sudden movement of the victim prior to contact is highly scrutinized. In this case, there is none. "[McDonagh] neither tries to cut in front of Ference nor to reverse hit him," Shanahan says.

Furthermore, McDonagh loses the ability to turn away from either the hit or the impact when Ference made contact with his right skate just prior to the shove. This one's all Ference, from beginning to end.

Another thing that typically follows a dangerous hit is discussion of intent. In this case, Shanahan saw none:

Ference makes contact with McDonagh's right skate and then shoves the defenseless McDonagh on his numbers, causing McDonagh to impact the boards violently. While we would agree with Ference's assertion that there was no malicious intent, this nevertheless is a reckless shove from behind into the boards.

In short: not malicious; reckless. While Shanahan saw no dastardly forethought, that's sort of the problem. Ference had plenty of time to think:

"Ference follows McDonagh from a significant distance and has enough time to make a better decision. Quite simply, at such a dangerous distance from the boards and with a defenseless opponent's back to him, the onus is on Ference to avoid this type of hit completely.

All of this adds up to what Shanahan called a "textbook" suspension, a word that, like "quintessential", is the Department of Player Safety's way of saying that this was a pretty simple decision.

There are a lot of labels Alex Ovechkin has yet to shake in his NHL career. One that's stuck since his early days with the Washington Capitals: That he leaves his skates on too many of his booming checks.

In the second period of the Caps' 4-3 OT loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, Ovechkin caught some air on this hit on defenseman Zbynek Michalek — and caught Michalek's noggin, too.

Ovechkin wasn't penalized on the play and Michalek played a regular shift for the rest of the game. Ovechkin scored a goal in the third period.

Was the head was the primary point of contact? If so, it should have meant a minor penalty at the very least. Was it shoulder then head? Looks that way. One thing's clear: It's skates off the ice.

Should it mean something more from the NHL? It's a reckless hit for a player that's had a few run-ins on the past (but not lately ... mostly because hits like this are rare for him now). Not sure that, within the context of the NHL's supplemental discipline, it'll be a suspension without an injury. In fact, without an injury, we'd wager there won't be one.

But would anyone have a problem if Ovechkin got at least a game in the press box for this?

UPDATE: Steve Whyno of the Washington Times got reaction from Michalek:

"To me, when the play happened, he just went for my head," he said. "I've been told that he left his feet. Hit my head. To me, it's a definitely a penalty. They didn't call it. It should have been called for sure."

Nathan Horton didn't take a shift after the second period in the Boston Bruins' 6-5 shootout win at the Philadelphia Flyers. He was held out of the game by physicians after taking a hit from Tom Sestito of the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period -- a hit the Bruins claim was a blindside check that injured his head.

Here's a video of the hit and the aftermath (best available quality for now):

Here's the hit within a compilation of hits in this brutal game (about 24 seconds in):

Sestito's check came after Horton had released the puck. Horton popped up after the  check and earned a 2-minute minor that led to a Scott Hartnell power-play goal, which tied the game 2-2. Horton would play five more shifts in the game, but was held out after that.

Bruins Coach Claude Julien called it a "blindside hit," telling NESN:

"He was kept out for the obvious [reasons]," Bruins coach Claude Julien said after the game. "It was kind of a head injury. He's just being reevaluated right now. That's basically all we know and that's as far as we've gone with the evaluation."

"Horton" and "head injury" are nothing the Bruins want to hear in close proximity, with Nathan Horton having suffered a concussion on an Aaron Rome check last June that knocked him out of the Stanley Cup Final (literally).

Sestito was previously suspended in the preseason for two exhibition games and two regular season games for checking Andre Deveaux of the New York Rangers from behind.

More Julien from CSN New England:

"Obviously he got up and took a penalty, but we looked at the replay. When he's been through what he went through last year and it was a blindside hit, I don't blame him for doing his job," said Julien. "If I was in his shoes I probably would have done the same thing. That's our team. We take care of our own stuff. You saw that a couple of times with Kelly getting run over, and getting stood up for by [Thornton].

Chris Kelly was hit with a check from Hartnell that didn't target the head; Hartnell was jumped by Shawn Thornton. Thornton was given a double-minor; Hartnell was given a minor for charging.

No. 1 Star: Jonas Hiller, Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks goalie made 43 saves in their 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche, giving up two goals in the third. But in the first 40 minutes of the game, Hiller was incredible: Making 28 saves as his team managed one goal on 10 shots. It's Hiller's fifth win in a row for Anaheim, which is on a 8-0-1 run.

No. 2 Star: Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia Flyers

Hartnell tallied a natural hat trick in the second period of the Flyers' 6-5 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins, scoring twice on the power play and once at even strength. He was also his usual charming self, getting physical and agitating the Bruins.

No. 3 Star: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

After assisting on two goals by James Neal, giving him 26 on the season, Malkin scored his 26th in overtime to give the Penguins a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals. Here's Geno getting a friendly rebound and finishing strong:

Honorable mention: Bobby Ryan scored two goals, including one shorthanded, and Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist in the Ducks' win. Getzlaf's rink-length pass set up Ryan's second goal. … Ryan O'Reilly and Milan Hejduk scored to rally the Avs. … David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist for the Bruins. Krejci and Seguin both scored in the shootout. … Zdeno Chara was a plus-3. … Max Talbot had two goals, while Claude Giroux had three assists. … Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists. Alex Semin had a goal and as assist. … Brooks Laich took 39 faceoffs for the Caps, winning 17.

Did you know? Per Eric Stephens, Teemu Selanne moved into 44th on the all-time assist list with 733rd career helper, ahead of Rod Brind'Amour. You hear those footsteps, Bernie Nicholls?

Fight of the Night: Shawn Thornton against Jody Shelley, with their second fight in two days, respectively. Take it away, Jack Edwards:

Dishonorable mention: There were a few plays on Sunday that will, or could, catch the NHL's attention. Both Alex Ovechkin and Zbynek Michalek have hearings on Monday for dangerous hits. Tom Sestito had what the Bruins are calling a "blindside" hit on Nathan Horton. … Tim Thomas (.868 save percentage) and Ilya Bryzgalov (.865) have had better games. … Sean Couturier was a minus-3.

This has to be a first for the NHL Department of Player Safety: Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin will have a Monday afternoon hearing for his leaping hit on Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Zbynek Michalek ... which will take place after a Monday morning hearing for Zbynek Michalek's head-shot on the Capitals' Matt Hendricks.

We covered the non-penalized Ovechkin hit on Sunday, and you can see that video here. As for Michalek's hit, which earned an elbowing minor, here it 'tis:

From the NHL:

Ovechkin, who scored in the loss, is being asked to discuss his hit on Michalek at 4:05 into the second period. The Caps' forward appeared to have left his feet and made contact with Michalek's head as he hit the Pens' defenseman in the corner behind Pittsburgh's net.

Less than five minutes after Ovechkin's hit, Michalek -- who played more than 21 minutes Sunday -- received a minor elbowing penalty after making contact with Washington's Matt Hendricks behind the Penguins' net. Hendricks was able to get up and continue playing.

On that second hit, Hendricks gets low to play the puck, but Michalek still has to be more responsible in that spot. After the game, he felt Ovechkin deserved a penalty for targeting the head, but acknowledged his own transgression.

Via Brian Metzer on From The Point:

"Yeah, it's not the first time he hit me or hit somebody else like that and I guess some players are more protected than the others," said Michalek. "It should be an even field, next shift I took a penalty and it was a good call. I elbowed the guy and I just told the ref if he makes the call on me he should have made the call on him too. It's even worse play tonight and he didn't call. It should be even no matter who makes the hit."

Stephen Whyno of the Washington Times wonders if there are mitigating circumstances for the Ovechkin hit:

Replays showed that Ovechkin left his feet to deliver the hit, which made contact with Michalek's head, even though it was not the principal point of contact. The Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman also appeared to be slipping before the hit, and so Ovechkin did not look to be targeting Michalek's head.

So a player might be suspended in the morning, and then play the role of victim in another player's suspension in the afternoon. There's a screwball comedy script here begging to be written.

Meanwhile, why couldn't Matt Hendricks hit Ovechkin over the head with his stick just to complete this Circle of Shanabans?

All-You-Can-Eat nights? Been there. Bobblehead dolls? Done that. Clearly, it's time for the next evolution for minor-league hockey promotions. Since the Las Vegas Wranglers have the Rapture covered, that leaves shattering irreverent world records as the next big thing.

The Central Hockey League's Texas Brahmas attempted to break three Guinness World Records on Friday night: the longest air hockey marathon, the most simultaneous fist bumps and the longest conga line on ice. As the video shows, they might have pulled off the conga line record, at least.

But over in San Antonio, home to the Florida Panthers' AHL affiliate the Rampage, the team believes it's set a record that will give you paws: The greatest number of dogs ever assembled to watch a live sporting event.

Saturday night was Pucks and Paws night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, and KSAT reports:

Rampage officials said 842 dogs showed up for the fifth annual Pucks & Paws event. The team was required to get at least 600 dogs to attend the game in order to be considered for a world record. The Rampage will file paperwork and evidence to be recognized as an official Guinness Book of World Record holder. In addition, 25 dogs were adopted at the event.

No, seriously: People watched the game with their dogs:

There's only two things we're sure of here: That, at some point, "Who Let The Dogs Out" or "Atomic Dog" played on the PA system; and that the arena clean-up crew probably wasn't paid enough for the aftermath of 842 dogs watching a hockey game for three hours.

Here's a blogger named Tina, experiencing Pucks and Paws in San Antonio:

For the most part, the dogs seemed to enjoy the night. Barking was heard from across the arena from the very moment people (and pups) started taking their seats. The national anthem was sung by a choir from either an elementary school or middle school and almost every dog sang along too. Very Cute.

Pucks and Paws is actually a grand tradition in the minor leagues, with the San Jose Sharks' AHL affiliate in Worcester recently holding one. Alas, that game only drew 75 canines, a number that couldn't even sniff the tail of the San Antonio dog night.

So now, we wait to see if the Rampage have collared a world record or if they were simply barking up the wrong … OK, we'll stop. Save for one last lament that this wasn't the Sabres affiliate, so we could have the obligatory appearance by Lindy Ruff.

Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.

The Western Conference is a mishmash of teams that are either great or pretty good, a few teams that are very bad and then the rest are just mediocre. It wouldn't be a total surprise to see any one of five teams — Detroit, Vancouver, San Jose, Chicago, St. Louis if they can keep it up — in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Eastern Conference is more stratified.

There are three teams that are the top-flight, one that's close, then a bunch of mediocre squads and two or three bad ones. And this weekend, we saw just how tough it will be for any team that isn't based in New York City, Boston or Pennsylvania to compete for a Stanley Cup.

The Bruins' stretch of six games in nine days, five of which were on the road and only three of which they won, wrapped with a daunting pair of contests on back-to-back days against the then-Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers and the now-third-place Philadelphia Flyers.

And both these games, for entirely different reasons, showed why these are the three best teams in the conference by a considerable distance.

(Coming Up: Sidney Crosby isn't retiring; Rene Bourque's place on the Habs; the Sabres have no pilot; Taylor Hall is tougher than you; Brayden Schenn's huge hit; that Zetterberg major; Mueller's return, Savard's sad story; Hiller turns the corner; Brodeur's brilliant stop; poor Ben Bishop; celebrating Hartnell; and a three-way deal for Nash.)

Saturday's matinee affair was just a wonderfully-played game of hockey between two teams that have very workman-like approaches to the game. The Bruins did what they always do, coming at their opponents in waves, chiseling away at the face of the game, but yielded the first goal before responding themselves a short time later. In the end, the Rangers' top player, who is significantly more talented at scoring goals than anyone the Bruins have in offer, was the difference, and even then, it took a penalty that lasted nearly the entirety of overtime to complete.

There was a bit of testiness to the game, which probably played more to Boston's benefit than New York's, but overall the difference between a Ranger win and a coin-flip shootout was a goalmouth scramble finished off by a consummate goal-scorer.

And if the difference between the Bruins and Rangers is that four seconds, Sunday showed why the Flyers, even short Chris Pronger and Jaromir Jagr, are going to be at the top of the conference until the end of the season. Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell have formed some kind of exciting alchemical bond that's good enough to overcome even the stereotypically shoddiest of Ilya Bryzgalov goaltending and the work of the best goaltender of the last two years.

And this game, unlike the one a day prior, was downright nasty. Not that it should surprise anyone that a Bruins/Flyers game featured three fights, a handful of huge hits, both dirty and clean and a couple of muggings. That speaks to the dimensions they can bring to games, and still score five apiece, that other teams in this league simply cannot.

None of this is to discount the Penguins, however, especially if they can at long last get everyone back healthy. They've struggled mightily this season in dealing with that and despite it all have placed themselves pretty comfortably in a playoff position, though a lot of that has to do with Evgeni Malkin dragging the team along by the hair to six consecutive wins. If anyone in the East can knock off one of the top three teams, it's them.

The problem for teams who have pretensions of getting through to the Cup Finals, though, is that not only will you have to beat one of these teams in a seven-game series, but rather that you'll have to beat at least two of them. Because no team is perfect, all three have vulnerabilities that could be exploited. There probably is a team that can stop the Flyers from scoring a million goals. Or grind out wins against the hard-working Rangers. Or solve the Bruins' world-class goaltending.

But can you see one team doing two of those things and coming out the other side? If it's that hard for these guys to beat each other, the other teams don't have much of a chance.

What We Learned

Anaheim Ducks: Don't want to say this too loud here but Jonas Hiller has begun to get his play back together in the new year. He's lost just one game in regulation in 2012, and allowed nine goals in his last seven appearances.

Boston Bruins: Marc Savard held a press conference yesterday as he was in town to host some kids who have suffered brain trauma, and it was all very depressing.

Buffalo Sabres: Speaking of depressing, the Sabres lost to St. Louis, still have two more road games to go in this trip and are now tied for dead last in the East. Oh and also, according to Jhonas Enroth, they didn't have anyone to fly them back to the east coast. These guys should be lined up around the block to demand trades.

Calgary Flames: What a snipe by Lee Stempniak, and granted it was on Nikolai Khabibulin, for the first goal of his hat trick.

Carolina Hurricanes: The 'Canes garage sale is officially open with Alexei Ponikarovsky getting dealt to the Devils. There's a tag on Tuomo Ruutu that says "50 cents O.B.O."

Chicago Blackhawks: The bad news for the Blackhawks is that they managed only two shots in the first period of Saturday's game with Nashville (though one went in). The worse news is that either the defense or goaltending continues to be downright terrible, and they conceded five goals on 23 shots. Worst of all, Jonathan Toews got hurt in the game. He's day-to-day.

Colorado Avalanche: As Peter Mueller continued his revelatory return to the lineup, the Avs handed the Kings their first regulation loss since Jan. 7.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Good news on that ugly hit by Henrik Zetterberg: Nikita Nikitin's injury doesn't look serious. He'll miss the team's final two games before the All-Star break and be reevaluated during that time.

Dallas Stars: Has anyone at all noticed that the Stars have lost five in a row? It's been ugly, too. Just six goals scored in those, and 13 against.

Detroit Red Wings Presented by Amway: It's likely that no one was happier than Mike Commodore to see Detroit beat Columbus in a shootout on Saturday, given how things wrapped up between player and team a few years back.

Edmonton Oilers: Taylor Hall came back to the Oilers' lineup on Saturday after that horrific facial injury, and just to keep everything together, he wore a bandage under a skull cap as well as a visor. On the CBC broadcast, teammates also told of how he wanted to play one game earlier and even hopped on an exercise bike to get ready, but his stitches started leaking so they told him it was a no-go. Gutsy stuff.

Florida Panthers: The Panthers finally won a road game (they hadn't done so in their last eight tries), but it took seven rounds of a shootout and a game against Winnipeg to get it done. It wasn't pretty on the stat sheet either, with the Panthers getting outshot 44-23. Yikes.

Los Angeles Kings: Playing on his 26th birthday, Jonathan Quick got a little testy after Dan Winnik took his leg out from under him, picking up a slashing penalty. He wasn't too happy with a reporter who asked about the incident either.

Minnesota Wild: Look at the passing on this goal by Kyle Brodziak. And if you pay very close attention, you'll hear them announcing a goal by Chad Rau from about 40 seconds earlier. In fact, it was the third Wild goal in 59 seconds. Which is a franchise record.

Montreal Canadiens: Rene Bourque scored his first goal for Montreal by doing what they got him for: going to the contested areas. Interesting, too, that Randy Cunneyworth had him playing with Tomas Plekanec and Erik Cole.

Nashville Predators: Nashville has now won 10 of its last 12 and they're only four points back of the Blackhawks with a game in hand. That's also five behind the Western Conference-leading Red Wings.
New Jersey Devils: The Devils' penalty kill allowed a pair of goals and their power play didn't score any despite being given six opportunities. A bad night on special teams by any measure.

New York Islanders: John Tavares now has points in 12 straight games after scoring both of the Islanders' goals against Carolina on Saturday. During that run, he's scored eight goals and 21 points, and now has 48 in 46 games this season.

New York Rangers: I loved the nonchalance of this rocket slapper on a bouncing puck form Marian Gaborik. "No big deal I just crushed it past Tuukka Rask."

Ottawa Senators: Strong play in net is typically the difference between regular-season success and failure these days. Not too many teams get home ice with bad goaltending. Which is why the Senators have to be feeling good about what they're getting between the pipes these days.

Philadelphia Flyers: What a freaking hit by Brayden Schenn on Steve Kampfer. Yikes.

Phoenix Coyotes: Derek Morris left Saturday's loss at Tampa early in the first period and as a result, the rest of the Coyotes' D had more work to do. Oliver Ekman-Larsson played more than 30 minutes. Michal Rozsival played about 28. Keith Yandle had an easy night logging just 24.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby isn't retiring. In case you thought he was. He's not. I'm not sure who thought that this time. But he won't retire. Not yet anyway. Probably when he's older.

San Jose Sharks: Todd McLellan is trying to figure out a way to make the Sharks' power play not be terrible. Bet the solution has a lot to do Joe Thornton, who has a goal and six assists with the man advantage after going 9-24-33 last season.

St. Louis Blues: Poor Ben Bishop has spent most of the weekend moping around after Brian Elliott signed a two-year extension. Most agree he's NHL-ready.

Tampa Bay Lightning: All that talk about Guy Boucher getting tuned out is nonsense, says everyone in the organization. Dwayne Roloson, one assumes, not so much.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Ron Wilson broke up Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul and the team lost to Montreal 3-1 so now they're back together.

Vancouver Canucks: Sami Salo is probably out through the All-Star break but at least he's back practicing. If you think about it, a concussion is probably the least severe injury he's suffered in the last few years.

Washington Capitals: The Caps were outshot badly in their previous seven games before heading to Pittsburgh yesterday. Much of that is down to Alex Ovechkin, they say, because he has just 23 in that stretch. So he went out and scored one then set up the other two, but they still only managed 20 on Marc-Andre Fleury.

Winnipeg Jets: Claude Noel refers to turnovers as "free pizzas," which I guess shouldn't be surprising with Dustin Byfuglien and Kyle Wellwood on the team.

Gold Star Award

Scott Hartnell had two goals on Saturday and that's pretty okay. Then he had a natural hat trick against the Bruins on Sunday and that's even better. Five goals in two games are good.

Minus of the Weekend

Here's one Corey Crawford would like back.

Play of the Weekend

Conversely, this was a pretty decent save from Marty Brodeur.

Perfect HFBoards Trade Proposal of the Week

User "dannyboy8920" wants to make Blue Jackets fans cry.

To Toronto-
Rick Nash
Samuel Pahlsson

To Tampa Bay-
Luke Schenn
Ben Scrivens

To Columbus-
Brett Connolly
Mikhail Grabovski
Brendan Mikkelson
1st(tor)

Signoff

Bastard from a basket!

Ryan Lambert publishes hockey awesomeness rather infrequently over at The Two-Line Pass. Check it out, why don't you? Or you can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter if you so desire.

Dobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

John Tavares may be outside of the Top 25 players under the age of 25 to those who use some abstract statistics and ignores the common ones, but us fantasy owners will stick to the main six statistical categories.

And lookie here — JT holds down top spot in rotisserie hockey over the last three weeks. I used Frozen Pool's Roto Rater this time, which lends weight to each stat based on the player's position and the distance of the stat from the average (so a negative number is below average). And if I may shamelessly plug — DobberHockey has now made FREE some of the Frozen Pool tools — including line combo quick reports, player profiles and a new fantasy player newsfeed that registers pretty high on the awesome-meter.

Here is a snippet of the aforementioned three-week Roto Rater report:

Studs...

These fellas are wielding a hot stick. Take that into consideration when you go after them in trade talks...

David Backes, St. Louis Blues (9-5-7-12, plus-8, 23 PIM, 31 SOG) — The only thing lower than the Blues' goals-for number since Ken Hitchcock took over … is their goals-against number. This team plays it tight and will probably have just one 60-point player. But his name is David Backes and he's someone you can count on for consistent points down the stretch.

Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings (7-3-6-9, plus-4, 4 PIM, 25 SOG) — Prior to his seven-game points streak, Williams was way — way — off the pace. Somewhere between Scott-Gomez off, and Bobby-Ryan off. But now the numbers have undergone the market correction needed and Williams should be good for 60 points. If he's healthy. Which is another fantasy hockey column altogether.

Francois Beauchemin, Anaheim Ducks (8-2-5-7, plus-9, 21 PIM, 11 SOG) —If Leafs fans were to go over the game-by-game stats of Beauchemin during his tenure there, they may be hard-pressed to find any eight games that were this impressive. But he has been a new man in Anaheim, and the team rewarded him last week with 10.5 million thank-yous.

"Sell High" pick of the week: Dave Bolland, Chicago Blackhawks. I don't have to paint to clear a picture for you here. Patrick Sharp plays 38 games, Bolland gets 17 points in those games. Sharp misses seven games, Bolland gets eight points. Sharp is back in a week, so you have one week to move Bolland.

Duds

Somebody wake these guys up — their fantasy owners are counting on them...

Tomas Fleischmann, Florida Panthers (18-3-3-6, minus-16, 6 PIM, 48 SOG) — I'm inclined to think that at this point you could acquire Flash for a song at this point. And I think you should. Just stick him on the bench until he snaps out of it. He's danced this jig before, we've seen it a few times in his career. You want him on your team when he turns it on again.

Clarke MacArthur, Toronto Maple Leafs (7-0-0-0, minus-2, 2 PIM, 11 SOG) — Injuries and complacency have combined to hurt MacArthur's stock. You can probably write him off for this season and look for a bounce-back in 2012-13 when it's another contract year.

Jordan Leopold, Buffalo Sabres (9- 0-0-0, minus-8, 2 PIM, 10 SOG) — Like Bolland, this is another easy one. Tyler Myers returned after Leopold was on a seven-game run in which he had six points. In the nine games since the return — zip.

"Buy Low" pick of the week: Derek Roy, Buffalo Sabres. Roy was a rookie the last time his points-per-game average was this low (0.54). So as long as he doesn't get stuck playing with Leino from a statistical standpoint, he should be a safe bet to boost his point total substantially.

The Wire...

Mostly short-term grabs here, but as always some potential steals...

Peter Mueller, Colorado Avalanche (3-3-1-4, plus-1, 2 PIM, 14 SOG) — He is a must-own in all roto leagues with unlimited or a reasonable amount of transactions allowed. I say this obviously because of the noggin issues. He's healthy right now though, and he's shooting the puck like Ovechkin on three shots of espresso.

Sergei Kostitsyn, Nashville Predators (10-7-4-11, plus-7, 2 PIM, 10 SOG) — Mr. and Mrs. Kostitsyn decided it was Sergei's turn to be the good player this month. So Andrei will just have to wait until next month.

David Perron, St. Louis Blues (4-2-2-4, plus-6, 0 PIM, 15 SOG) —The 23-year-old is making up for lost time. He missed the first 26 games with a concussion, but has since been producing at a clip that marks the best points-per-game average of his career (0.77). He's on a line with the aforementioned Backes, and that's the only line scoring right now.

David Desharnais, Montreal Canadiens (11-2-9-11, plus-7, 0 PIM, 15 SOG) — The shots and penalty minutes may be lacking, but the 5-7 Desharnais has pretty much improved his production with each passing month at virtually every level of hockey. Yes please.

Filip Kuba, Ottawa Senators (9-1-5-6, plus-6, 2 PIM, 9 SOG) — Kuba's career-best plus/minus was the plus-4 he finished with back in 2008-09. Eight times in his career he was a minus player. So what's his secret? Finally healthy? Better focus in his own end? Nope. He gets to be on the ice at the same time as Erik Karlsson.

Brayden Schenn, Philadelphia Flyers (7-1-1-2, plus-3, 11 PIM, 10 SOG) — Obviously a depth option who must be on your bench. But worth a "wait and see" move because not only is he getting more involved physically, but he's also seeing more ice time with Daniel Briere and Jaromir Jagr hurt. He saw nearly 19 minutes Sunday.

Andrew Shaw, Chicago Blackhawks (6-4-2-6, plus-2, 4 PIM, 18 SOG) — After being passed over in 11 rounds of NHL drafting over the last two summers, Shaw finds himself in the NHL. The reason that he will continue to chip in with nice fantasy numbers is simple. Ice time. He's averaged over 18 minutes per game over the last four contests.

For more fantasy hockey tips, take a gander at DobberHockey. And while you're at it, follow Dobber's fantasy hockey musings on Twitter. For midseason help in your fantasy league, get some second-half projections, prospect info and more in Dobber's sixth annual Midseason Fantasy Guide.

In Chicago, they have the championship belt. In Washington, they have the hard hat. In New York, they have the Broadway Hat.

As the St. Louis Blues have surged up the Western Conference standings since November, the team has recently decided to give out its own postgame award to the player who stands out in each of its wins.

Here's captain David "Inglourious" Backes showing off the hat as the Blues' latest "Weenie of the Game":

What ... a … hat.

After the Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, Backes gave a few details about the creative player of the game award to Jeremy Rutherford of the Post-Dispatch:

"Other guys are supposed to be doing their interviews in it when they win it. The heart and soul guys, instead of wearing hard hats, they wanted weenie of the game, so this is what we go with.

"We've been doing it for maybe six, seven, eight games here ... apparently the weenie of the game for them stops at the buzzer. But I'm going to relish this for the rest of the night."

Weenie? Relish?

*rim shot*

B.J. Crombeen revealed on Saturday that the hat was ordered online by Matt D'Agostini, but the details of why a weiner was chosen remain shrouded in mystery.

With a win Monday night, St. Louis could find itself No. 1 overall in the NHL, not bad for a team that's had to play ketchup in the Western Conference since early November.

Unless they can't cut the mustard, a thought the Red Wings probably relish.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

When the Dallas Stars dealt forward James Neal to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Alex Goligoski last February, both teams were using a surplus to fill a need.

While Neal struggled after coming over to the Penguins and is now blossoming, Goligoski has been a steady presence on the Stars' blueline contributing 15 points in 23 games last season and after dealing with a broken thumb and missing 11 games, he's recorded five goals and 10 assists in 36 games this year.

On Monday, the Stars and Goligoski agreed to a four-year extension worth $18.4 million.

From the Stars:

"We're very pleased that we were able to sign Alex to this extension," said Stars owner Tom Gaglardi. "We are committed to building a winner here in Dallas and that starts with re-signing your key players and maintaining a solid foundation for your roster."

Added Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk, "Alex Goligoski is one of our core players and we are very pleased to get him under contract during the prime of his career. Alex is a character person and one of the anchors of our blue-line. He's a big part of our hockey club."

The deal keeps the 26-year old Goligoski in Dallas through the 2015-16 season, making him the second-highest paid Star in terms of cap hit, and he joins Trevor Daley as the two Dallas blueliners locked up past 2014-15.

(UPDATE: Via CapGeek, Goligoski's deal includes a limited no-trade clause from the 2013-14 season to 2014-15.)

Now that the Dallas ownership situation is settled and Nieuwendyk has one restricted free agent crossed off his list, he can now set his sights on Jamie Benn, who will be an RFA come July 1.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

It's a Monday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Stars: Former Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson, Jr. and former NHL ruffian Brad May join the program.

• In which Marek and Wysh discuss the Boston Bruins at the White House, as that's where Wysh is today.

• Setting up fights based on Internet ratings.

• Suspension talk.

• Puck Headlines and Talking Points

Question of the Day: Which was the worst hit this weekend and why? Alex Ovechkin/Zbynek Michalek, Michalek/Matt Hendricks, Andrew Ference/Ryan McDonagh, or Tom Sestito/Nathan Horton?

Email your answers to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

Click here for the Sportsnet live stream or click the play button above! Click here to download podcasts from the show each day Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or Feedburner.

Hockey Hugs is a feature that celebrates the best in hugging from around the NHL, because who doesn't love a good hug now and then?  Seen a particularly good hug photo lately? Send it to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet @HarrisonMooney.

They say that January is the most depressing month of the year. The weather is gloomy, it's just after Christmas when Christmas debt and Christmaslessness is at its peak, and all of our New Year's resolutions have failed. Emotions runs high, and even if you think you're above them, sometimes they sweep over you.

Take, for instance, the hug above, as the New Jersey Devils celebrate a goal versus the Edmonton Oilers. At first, it may have seemed like any typical hug, but this photo depicts the exact moment where Patrik Elias and Zach Parise lost themselves in one another.

Look at Kovalchuk and Foster: they have no idea they've become completely tertiary elements of this hug. They're simply no longer there.

Or, as another example, look right, to this mad squeeze between Troy Brouwer and Alex Semin of the Washington Capitals. It's so jam-packed with emotion that they're glowing. Meanwhile, their teammate in the background there has already recognized that no one else is invited to this hug. He just stands respectfully to the side, not glowing.

Coming up, more sudden emotion in this week's edition of hockey hugs.

No. 5, Florida Panthers

Speaking of sudden emotion, here's Shawn Matthias entering a group hug with his teammates, only to realize that their friendship means more to him than anything in the world. It catches Brian Campbell off guard.

"Uh. There there, Shawn. Look, you have to stop doing this. Everyone's calling you Shawn Ma-tears."

"I just miss you guys so much.

"We're right here."

"But not forever."

No. 4, Buffalo Sabres

Not a lot has gone right for the Buffalo Sabres, but don't let anyone tell you that it's a chemistry issue. These guys are close. So close, in fact, that they occasionally take hug breaks during the play. Not pictured: their opponents, breaking in on Ryan Miller, 5-on-0.

"You know what, fellas? I don't care where we are in the standings, so long as we're there together."

No. 3, Los Angeles Kings

Wherein the Kings celebrate a big goal and then, all of a sudden, Brad Richardson catches a whiff of linemate Trevor Lewis's manly scent.

"Trevor, you smell terrific!"

No. 2, Carolina Hurricanes

Jay Harrison is so into this hug that he does a little leg-kick.

"What a feeling! Hi-ya!"

No. 1, Vancouver Canucks

And finally, in our hug of the week, Chris "Kiss Huggins" Higgins is at it again, this time pairing with Cody Hodgson for the smiliest embrace in the history of ever.

"Hey Cody?"

"Hahaha yeah?"

"Remember that time..."

"Hahaha yeah."

• Hall of Famer Paul Coffey shills hot specialty beverages. [Reddit Hockey]

• How serious are the New Jersey Devils' financial troubles? They're on track lose $20 million this season, they might need the NHL to advance them some money for payroll, and they might trade Zach Parise for draft picks to free up some money. [The Fourth Period]

• Inside Alex Ovechkin's $4.2 million monster house, which features "5 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, and a massive 11,000 square feet of space." Finally, a house where, if 5 guests are concurrently occupying bathrooms, there are still two and a half bathrooms available for emergencies. [Business Insider]

• Manny Malhotra just got Keslurked. By Ryan Kesler's baby. [PITB]

• Your companion to this week's Hockey Hugs: the One Sad Hockey player tumblr, which focuses not on the hug, but the guy excluded from it. It's a real downer. [One Sad Hockey Player]

• It hasn't been the best season for the Buffalo Sabres, but at least a lot of people are watching them lose. They have the highest local ratings of any team. Problem is, even that's in jeopardy. Negotiations between MSG and Time Warner Cable are not going so well. [Sports Business Daily]

• Your NHL 3 Stars of the week: Scott Hartnell, and Evgenis Malkin and Nabokov. [NHL]

• Jonathan Toews's arm injury isn't nearly as serious as he is, but he won't be back until after the All-Star Break, and he likely won't participate in the festivities in Ottawa. [Chicago Tribune]

• Speaking of the All-Star Game, Dustin Byfuglien, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are out with injuries, meaning Kris Letang, Jordan Eberle, and Nick Johnson are in. [NHL]

• Evander Kane is not exactly making friends in Winnipeg. [Winnipeg Free Press]

• Ryan Suter returns to the lineup for the Nashville Predators. [NHL]

• It sounds like Steve Tambellini is about to sign a contract extension. Is he deserving of it? [Edmonton Journal]

• Speaking of Tambellini, Jason Gregor suggests that the Khabibulin signing may not have been his decision. [Oilers Nation]

• There was a fight meta-truculence at Leafs' practice yesterday. [PHT]

• The dark horse in the Western Conference? The St. Louis Blues, who are 13-0-2 in their last 15 at home and have surrendered just one third-period goal in their last 11 games. [Sportsnet]

• Two people are dead after their small car collided with a hockey's team bus in Saskatoon. [Vancouver Sun]

• Recapping Luc Robitalle's fifth annual celebrity shootout at Sundance, featuring such icons as Alan Thicke. ALAN THICKE, EVERYONE. [Salt Lake Tribune]

• And finally, the best goal by a six-year-old that you're going to see all week. Granted, it helps that the goalie is also six years old, but still. Amazing presence of mind by this kid.

WASHINGTON  -- While congratulating the Boston Bruins on their 2011 Stanley Cup championship, President Barack Obama did the obligatory spotlighting of key players in that run. Zdeno Chara got the height joke. Brad Marchand was chided for being the "Little Ball of Hate." Tim Thomas was celebrated for being only the second American player to win playoff MVP, having posted two shutouts in the Final.

Chara smiled. Marchand blushed.

Thomas wasn't there to hear it.

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed that Thomas had told him months ago he would not attend the White House event due to his political and ideological differences with the Obama administration. Chiarelli said he had tried to convince Thomas to attend the event "over the last couple months" to no avail.

"He chose not to come. The reasons behind it I think he'll make the media aware through his Facebook," said Chiarelli.

The GM said that he could have mandated Thomas attend the event, but chose not to. "I can require someone to attend a team event. If they don't, I can suspend him. But I'm not going to suspend Tim. Whatever his position is isn't representative of the Boston Bruins or my own. But I'm not going to suspend him."

Bruins team president Cam Neely said the decision was Thomas' and the team honored his choice.

"Everybody has their own opinions and political beliefs. He chose not to join us," said Neely. "We certainly would have liked to have him come and join us but that's his choice. All the guys came except for Tim. It's his decision and his choice."

While his politics aren't common knowledge among many hockey fans, Thomas hasn't hidden his political leanings. He's a fan of former Fox News channel host Glenn Beck, once saying he aspired to appear on Beck's talk show as a guest.

Big Government, a website founded by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, celebrated Thomas as a "true Tea Party patriot" for having "In God We Trust" and the Gadsden flag on his mask. From Big Government:

In addition to displaying his support for the Tea Party on the ice, Thomas is a FreedomWorks donor, giving generously right before the historic November 2010 elections, according to the FEC.

Chiarelli said he hoped Thomas' decision not to attend the White House event wouldn't overshadow the Bruins' day.

"We're like a family. We have our issues. You deal with them and move on, and try and support everyone," he said. "It may or may not. If it does … I hope it doesn't. The guys enjoyed the day."

My take: Good on Thomas.

Good on Thomas for using this moment — where a professional sports team participates in what's both an honor for its accomplishments and a political photo opportunity — to make a political statement of his own.

It's the moment when Thomas will no doubt lose a lot of supporters, for sure, when they realize an athlete they celebrate has stark political differences than they have. He's not the first nor the last athlete to choose not to visit the White House.

It's a moment in which a professional athlete uses his fame, his influence for something he believes in, and does something that won't be popular among fans or media. Sean Avery did the same thing: Potentially alienating his teammates by taking a political stand on gay marriage.

If he's celebrated and Thomas is demonized, what does that say about our real tolerance of free speech? That it's only free when we agree with it?

(And for the "separation of politics and hockey" crowd — that flies out the window when you agree to be a backdrop to a speech in an election year. Or any year.)

There's a difference between freedom of speech and speech without consequence, of course. This is the moment when Tim Thomas, the most valuable player to his team last June, did something that detracted from his teammates' celebration. This is the moment when, for better or worse, he becomes something more than the blue-collar hockey player from Flint with the great backstory and the sterling save percentage.

And as long as he's willing to accept that his absence from an event that even Tomas Kaberle attended has overshadowed this day and changed his profile as an athlete, then like Cam Neely I'll respect the decision.

Zbynek Michalek of the Pittsburgh Penguins was in a peculiar position on Monday: Arguing that his hit on Matt Hendricks of the Washington Capitals didn't warrant anything more than the elbowing minor it received on Sunday afternoon, while waiting to hear if the hit Alex Ovechkin put on Michalek would received its own punishment.

The first skate to drop was for Michalek: The NHL Department of Player declared that there would be no fine or suspension for this hit to the head of Hendricks (via @cjzero)

From Stephen Whyno of the Washington Times:

Michalek got two minutes for elbowing but no further suspension or fine from the NHL, league spokesman confirmed. It's believed that no suspension or fine because Michalek's knee buckled when hitting Hendricks' butt, contributing to his losing his balance and lunging forward.

His "butt"? Always with the technical terms …

Michalek owned up to the elbowing call, saying "I took a penalty and it was a good call." The NHL apparently feels there are some extenuating circumstances that negate any supplemental discipline.

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Preview: St. Louis Blues at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m. ET. A battle that has Central Division and Western Conference implications also has the home winning streak of the Red Wings on the line. Winners of their last 16 at Joe Louis Arena, Detroit is tied for the fourth-longest home winning streak in NHL history and also go for their seventh straight victory overall. The Blues have won four in a row and have received solid goaltending of late from not only All-Star Brian Elliott, but also Jaroslav Halak. A St. Louis win puts them No. 1 overall in the Western Conference and NHL.

Preview: San Jose Sharks at Edmonton Oilers, 9:30 p.m. ET. Despite dropping three of their last four, the Sharks have had recent success against the Oilers. Winning 10 of their last 12 against Edmonton, San Jose would love to use tonight's game as a bit of a streakbuster. The Oilers are once again toiling at the bottom of the Western Conference and as losers of eight of nine are trying to finish the second half

Preview: Ottawa Senators at Los Angeles Kings, 10:30 p.m. ET. The surprising Senators head toward the All-Star break in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and look to continue their recent run of 10 wins in 13 games. The Kings -- mainly, Jonathan Quick -- are hoping to get spurred on by their offense who've scored just two goals or less in 20 of his last 21 starts. A win, coupled with a San Jose loss would put the Kings atop the Pacific Division.

Evening Reading

• Here's Dallas Stars goaltending prospect Tyler Beskorowany's new mask that features Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. [In Goal Mag]

• After getting hit by Tom Sestito on Sunday afternoon, it looks like Nathan Horton of the Boston Bruins suffered a "mild" concussion, according to GM Peter Chiarelli. [Globe]

• Hey, Christian Ehrhoff is back for the Buffalo Sabres! Here comes the turnaro... ah, nevermind. [Sabres Edge]

• Oh, and R.J. Umberger is back for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Here comes the... forget it. [Dispatch]

• Alex Goligoski penned a new deal today with the Dallas Stars, but the other big upcoming RFA, Jamie Benn, likely won't have any contract news until after the season. [Dallas Morning News]

Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: "Sandra" has some trivia on Patrik Elias:

"Patrik Elias is one of the BEST huggers. He seems like a cuddler in so many pictures through the years. And ~that~ alone should be another reason why he should go to the All-Star Game this weekend, lol."

Bold prediction: The Kings once again fail to score more than two goals, but that's okay, they'll beat Ottawa 2-1 in overtime.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Tim Thomas was the only Boston Bruins player from their 2010 Stanley Cup championship team that chose not to attend a White House celebration of their achievement. Cam Neely, the Bruins' team president, cited Thomas's "own opinions and political beliefs" for that absence.

On the official Facebook page for Tim Thomas — his other page is for his hockey camps — the Bruins goalie and playoff MVP clarified his absence from the White House event:

"I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.

"This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.

"Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.

"This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT"

Something tells me that with Thomas slated to appear in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game this weekend, this might not be the only public statement he'll make on this controversy. It's overshadowed the Bruins' visit to the White House. It'll likely do the same for Thomas's participation in the midseason classic.