Around the Rink 02.24.07

Alright, let's get the Brawl in Buffalo out of the way. Now, it was an interesting piece to see, considering the history these two teams (Buffalo and Ottawa) have had in the past two seasons. However, the debate of "late hit" or "dirty hit" is really subjective. Looking at the video replay, you could make the case for Chris Neil's hit on Chris Drury as being a touch late, but no stride was made before impact and no elbow was up, which would have been obvious since they are the same size.

The aftermath of that, with Ray Emery going with Martin Biron and then Andrew Peters was bizarre; but the question on my mind is why put your top line out there after the hit?? Let's be honest, sure the Sabres have last change; but isn't that the point where you waste your time-out to put your third or fourth line guys in??

The result of the hit is Drury being placed on IR indefinitely for a concussion and a must-watch scenario for tonight.

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Anson Carter is on the move again, as Carter was traded from Columbus to Carolina in exchange for a 5th Round Pick in '08. Carter has 27 points in 53 games and was brought in as a precautionary measure assuming that Nikolai Zherdev wasn't going to come over to North America.

Carter has had a season to forget, which is why most people are shocked that the Canes went out in got him. Sure, he's a depth player while Erik Cole is out, but Carter has only 24 games experience in the playoffs; which won't help the Canes out at all. We'll see if having some true talent on a line with him will help his cause, but this move is quite the odd one, for sure.

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Georges Laraque could be on the move soon, as he was a healthy scratch on Thursday; sparking speculation of his departure. Pittsburgh radio stations were already saying Laraque to Pittsburgh was a done deal; which is going on 48 hours without it going down. This is due to Laraque's no-trade clause.

However, shouldn't the Penguins have gotten some muscle earlier in the season?? When you look at what has happened this season with Sidney Crosby; you would think that after the first time, they would get the picture and get right on it. Fact of the matter is, if they trade for muscle; the Pens will only use him for whatever is left of the regular season (may include some healthy scratches) and that's it, unless they can provide otherwise.

We'll see where Laraque goes, because he's sure he'll be heading somewhere come Tuesday.

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We talked about some of the GM meetings during the last show, but it's interesting about the teams not wanting to deal with the three-point games. Some say that it wouldn't create much excitement and would water down the game or whatever other party line they were spouting off.

Look, are you trying to tell me that a divisional match-up, where you could get three points over a rival, wouldn't create more passion or parity?? My god, that could change the landscape of the game and really bring passion to it. Let's be honest, if you could get a three-point advantage over the other teams compared to the one-point if it goes to overtime....why wouldn't you do it; it just make sense.

Of course, you'll have the smart-ass Bettman bashers going, "Of course he wants to bring in three-points, he's a basketball guy." Shut up, stupids.

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That's my time, unless something big happens; I'll be back on Tuesday to maybe do some "live blogging" for the trade deadline. We'll see how well that goes over, though. Until then, check the message boards for the hilarity happening over there or if you missed a show, check out the Podcast.