Sleeksays

Anaheim Ducks (14-9-3, 3rd in west) at Chicago Blackhawks (10-6-6, t-7th in west) How much will this post cost me in karma dollars? Instead of talking up this Chicago rematch, I'm going to throw my two rambly cents in on the Avery suspension. I don't like it. Now don't get me wrong; there's a lot to dislike about Avery, including this recent set of inflammatory remarks, but you have to recognize Avery for what he is -- a sensationalist media creation. Over the years, reporters have glorified his personality and encouraged his bad boy behavior (which I can understand -- NHLers are generally too boring for newsstands) . And that's the thing -- I do believe Avery's statements were intended more to feed the hungry media than they were to hurt Dion Phaneuf / Elisha Cuthbert's feelings. He was doing what he was expected to do -- agitate and entertain -- and more or less in the manner that he was trained to do. It wasn't out of line with the media character...

Sloppy seconds? Seriously? The NHL's collective feathers are ruffled over this ? That being said, reactions from Marty Turco, Mike Modano, Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro do show that this Sean Avery experiment isn't exactly going well. We're only in December and the team is already clearly tired of hearing about Avery (and his gorgeous, cleft-chinned ex-gfs). Obviously, Avery needs father figures and/or players who obviously wear the pants so he'll tow the line. In Detroit, he was just some annoying gnat of an undrafted free agent in a locker room full of larger than life personalities. After that, he's been in big markets where hockey isn't exactly the main event (LA, New York and Dallas) so he could cultivate his bad boy image without the necessary "But he's actually not all that productive" backlash. It keeps feeding that gluttonous Avery ego and don't expect it to stop anytime soon.

LA Kings (10-10-3) @ Phoenix Coyotes (10-11-2) 6:30 PST, Fox Sports West Last night the Kings were leading, 1-0, going into the 3rd period. They hadn't played particularly well, but had used a fast start to gain an advantage on the scoreboard. During the 2nd intermission, Terry Murray stressed the importance of not taking a penalty because the Kings had just been given a 5-on-3 (which of course they didn't score on) late in the 2nd. The very first shift of the 3rd period, Sean O'Donnell carried the puck up ice and attempted to pass it out of his own zone. Unfortunately, he bounced it off a Toronto player and then hooked another Toronto player that was attempting to skate the puck into the zone. Penalty, Sean O'Donnell. The penalty was exacerbated by an unfortunate Dustin Brown trip and the Maple Leafs scored on the two-man advantage. Way to go, Sean. Still, the Kings were tied and only had to kill off the rest of Dustin Brown's penalty. O'Donnell was re...

San Jose Sharks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 7:30 PM, Comcast Sportsnet Sharks fans weren�t particularly nice to Brian Campbell when he returned to HP Pavilion. That�s to be expected, as Campbell came with a lot of potential and promise and he failed to deliver, then he said, �Screw you� to the team before cashing in. So what happens when the guy who came with the most potential and promise returns? Perhaps Ron Wilson himself didn�t embody that potential but his roster � and regular season performance � certainly did, and as the guy who runs the show when it comes to motivating players, the combined lack of inspiration and toughness can fall on Wilson�s shoulders. If only to accentuate the point, Todd McLellan�s got this team doing those things, though it certainly helps that McLellan�s got a better set of defensemen. Does Ron Wilson deserve a harsh greeting when he steps behind the bench as a visitor for the first time since the axe fell? In my opinion, no. In fact, as critical as I was of...

LA Kings (10-9-3) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (8-9-3) 7:30 PST, Fox Sports West Labarbera's in tonight, Boyle's out, hopefully Zeiler's on the bench. The Leafs score more than you'd think but also let in a lot of goals. I've actually liked the Leafs since they moved to the East and I think they'll become good faster than people think. But today I hope the Kings embarrass them in front of their new GM. Prediction: Kings win, 5-4. Goals by Kopitar (x2), Moller, Frolov and Labarbera.

Anaheim Ducks (14-8-3, 3rd in west) at Detroit Red Wings (15-4-4, 2nd in west) Battle of the Hangovers For today's post I threw together a comparison table looking at how the Ducks and Red Wings have been performing compared to a specific stretch of games last season. For the Ducks, the selected stretches have been hand-picked from each season: 07-08: the first 19 games after Scott Niedermayer returned to the lineup. 08-09: the most recent 19 games (excluding the 1-5-0 first six games) . I decided to stick to stretches where the Ducks have been performing well points-wise. In the 07-08 stretch, the Ducks went 12-5-2; in the 08-09 stretch the Ducks went 13-3-3. For the Red Wings, the selection is much more straightforward: 07-08: the first 23 games of the season. 08-09: the first 23 games of the season. This one's much more obvious: I'm just looking at how Detroit's "hangover" start (15-4-4) compares to its season start from last year (15-6-2) . Now I don...