• How committed is Alex Ovechkin to not being a distraction at the All-Star game? He's wearing camouflage shorts. [Alex Ovetjkin] • Speaking of Ovechkin, Bruce Arthur's column on his ASG no-show is spot-on. [National Post] • Former Tampa Bay … Continue reading →

OTTAWA — Along with the ignominious label of Mr. Irrelevant and a new Honda Crossfire, Logan Couture was given something else as the last pick of the 2012 NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft: All of the questions Phil Kessel has … Continue reading →

OTTAWA — Joey Junior Blackhawks Reporter, the precocious scamp who rocketed to fame by asking "Who do biggest tuwh-key on da team?", has taken his talents to Ottawa for the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend. And by talents, we mean his … Continue reading →

Brian Burke was harshly scrutinized for the now infamous Phil Kessel swap. Back then, he gave up three potential NHLers for a single yet proven commodity. Now, with Tyler Seguin and Doug Hamilton set to lead the Bruins for years to come, it’s scary to imagine how badly Burke would be harped if Kessel wasn’t [...]

Chara takes Datsyuk with first All-Star pick GATINEAU, Quebec -- The best of the best, as decided by the best, came almost as a surprise. Insiders suspected that if Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara won the right to pick first at Thursday's 2012 NHL All-Star Player Fantasy...

Daniel Alfredsson's kids should be happy. And so should be much of Ottawa and Sweden with the team the Senators captain put together in making his selections in the NHL All-Star draft on Thursday night. Alfredsson completed a double sweep, picking all available Senators and Swedish-born players in building a roster that will take on Zdeno Chara's team in the skills competition on Saturday...

GATINEAU, Que. - The battle lines were established early in the NHL's all-star weekend.

GATINEAU, Que. — Tyler Seguin of the Boston Bruins was among the final four picks in the 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft, staring down the potential for considerable irony: That he could be the last player taken one year after … Continue reading →

Tonight will mark the end of a story that never should have been.  The 2011 NHL All Star Draft was a bit longer than Maple Leaf fans would have hoped, and unfortunately was discussed throughout Canada ad nauseam.  Phil Kessel got the distinction of being selected last in the first time event and was rewarded with a new car for his trouble.  There was not a media outlet that covers hockey that was willing to let the story go, in spite of Kessel’s insistence that he was not bothered by the snub.  The unusual spike in performance since the All Star Draft is my only reason for doubt.

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Toronto Maple Leafs 2012 All Stars - Editor In Leaf - Editor In Leaf - A Toronto Maple Leafs Blog

GATINEAU, Que. - Logan Couture isn't afraid to have a little fun at his own expense.

GATINEAU, QUE. — The 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft featured a relaxed setting for the players waiting to be selected by Teams Alfredsson and Chara. Well, save for the bathrooms. With 46 players in the draft — including the rookies … Continue reading →

GATINEAU, QUE. -- The dust has settled and the 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft is complete. No big snubs or dramatic teammate double-crosses. No trade between the two sides, the Sedins stick together and Logan Couture goes home with a … Continue reading →

With their seventh pick of the 2012 NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft, captain Zdeno Chara and assistant Joffrey Lupul wanted to take a goaltender. Lupul, a Toronto Maple Leafs forward, decided to reach across enemy lines and select Carey Price … Continue reading →

I planned on writing about the Liles extension as a preamble into answering these questions, but once I began writing it I realized that it was a blog all on its own. With that said, I’ll be posting an in depth blog soon looking solely at the Liles signing and just exactly what it means. [...]

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media. • Head To The Net with the two-for-one hilarity, taking aim at … Continue reading →

Remember that scene in Season 2 of "HBO 24/7", when Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers took one of their cameras and began filming his own mini-documentary in his condo? Well, look at what Uncle Scott's gonna eat, courtesy of … Continue reading →

The NHL’s annual All-Star fantasy draft is the undisputed highlight of the NHL’s All-Star weekend, in the same way that reading magazines in the waiting room is the undisputed highlight of a colonoscopy.

After last year’s generally well-received debut of the concept, this year’s draft takes place Thursday night in Ottawa. This time around, the captains are Daniel Alfredsson of the Senators and Zdeno Chara of the Bruins, and they’ll alternate picks as they divide up the 42 players who were picked for the game in a 19-round draft.

The league has also named an assistant captain for each squad. Alfredsson gets Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist because he’s an elite player from a first-place team who is recognized worldwide. Chara gets Joffrey Lupul because apparently everyone else said no.

The assistants will presumably help the captains with their picks, though that might not be necessary. Both captains are known for being eminently knowledgeable and meticulously prepared, so it’s not like either of them would ever get blindsided.

What can fans expect? Here’s my best guess as to how it could all play out.

• Read the full preview at Grantland.com.

from Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post,

Burke tells the crowd at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management about the perils of trading, explaining part of the relationship that exists among general managers around the NHL:

“The good news is, if you make enough good trades, people forget about the horses— trades that you’ve made. People ask me, ‘what’s the worst trade you’ve made?’ And I would have to think hard about that, but I could tell you a couple real bad ones.”

He paused for a beat.

“A second-round pick in Vancouver for Vadim Sharifijanov.”

Burke paused again.

“That’s right. Everyone’s going, ‘who?’ Exactly. That’s pretty good evidence. I just told you it’s a bad trade. Now, it’s a bad trade. We overrated this player, we overpaid for him, but we fixed it. Right away, we said, ‘OK, we’re wrong.’ We got rid of the guy, put someone in the lineup who could help us more. We never recovered from that particular mistake, but we didn’t dwell on it and say, ‘maybe he’ll turn into a player.”

read on

According to Columbus Dispatch beat writer Aaron Portzline, two significant pieces of news emerged from last week's meeting of the Columbus Blue Jackets' owners. The first is that Jeff Carter is on the trading block seven months after he was … Continue reading →

Much has already been said of the struggles of Grabovski, Kulemin and MacArthur this season when playing with each other, so I won’t bore you further with another long diatribe. Instead we’re going to take a look at what it is that stats can show us about areas that have led to these decreased levels [...]

Oh, Phil … The 2012 NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft is scheduled for Thursday night, as Team Zdeno Chara (with Joffrey Lupul!) and Team Daniel Alfredsson (with Henrik Lundqvist!) select their rosters. In the process, they'll determine which NHL star … Continue reading →

It's time for Phil Kessel to hand over the crown. Fortunately, he gets to keep the car.

The NHL Players’ Association executive director has his constituents onside ahead of the upcoming CBA labor negotiations with the league.

Defenseman John-Michael Liles signed a $15.5 million, four-year extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Liles has four goals and 21 points in 34 games this season and is OK with the notion he might've passed up a more lucrative deal as a free agent. "Some guys choose to go the unrestricted route, but it's a pretty special feeling when Burkie (Leafs GM Brian Burke) went out...