Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general...

Is Bob Gainey's call to step down as Montrel Canadiens GM the right move? Post your comment and have your say.

via Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun,

• Hockey Night in Canada executives spared Albertans from Toronto’s ongoing Dion Phaneuf love-in Saturday by showing the Flames-Lightning game here. However, the nationally-televised Toronto Maple Leafs-Ottawa Senators game featured close-ups of the word ‘work’ Phaneuf has started writing on the butt-end of his stick. The Air Canada Centre announcer also went out of his way several minutes after a Leafs goal to point out Phaneuf’s first-period assist “was his first as a Leaf,” prompting a roar from the crowd. Memo to Toronto: Calgary fell in love with Phaneuf at first, too.

• On behalf of the media, I apologize for “costing the Flames two points,” as Olli Jokinen suggested after he had to play one last uninspired game in Calgary despite word of his trade to the New York Rangers had been leaked before the game. OK, now it’s your turn, Olli, to apologize for all the points your disappointing play cost the club.

• Interesting footnote to the Phaneuf trade: New teammate Mike Komisarek is an ex-boyfriend of Dion’s girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert.

Couldn't believe when I read this.I'm away on a work thing and won't be able to see any of this game. What a bummer.

Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events...

CBCSports.ca senior reporter Tim Wharnsby names the top performers in the NHL from Sunday.

TORONTO - She reached out to Brendan Burke to say she was proud of him. Irene Miller wanted to tell the stranger who she had never met that he had done a good thing, and that by declaring he was gay in the realm of sports, he had changed lives for the better.

Ok, so last night actually happened. I'd been hoping it was a nightmare.Well, the Senators completely mailed it in and gifted a win to the perpetually awful Leafs. I don't really understand why the Senators chose not to play very hard last night, but it's not for me to analyse why they elected to throw the game. Whatever the case, it's still miserable for the fans of the playoff-bound team and

from James Gordon of Hockey Capital,

Scary moment for Ottawa Senators fans tonight after defenceman Matt Carkner was dropped by Toronto’s Colton Orr in a first period fight. The big defenceman made it back to his feet, but definitely looked woozy as the referees and trainers surrounded him and forced him into the dressing room to make sure he was fine.

continued

No. 1 star, J.S. Giguere, Toronto Maple Leafs : Relocating from Anaheim to Toronto where he has been reunited with...

Gettin' Giggy with it

It was setting up to be a great day for Ottawa Senators defenseman Matt Carkner. His team entered tonight's...

It's not often that we get a window into the personal lives of the public figures we follow. Just two months ago, many hockey fans were introduced to Brendan Burke, and given a glimpse of his relationship with his father Brian. It is a profound tragedy that Brendan's life then ended so suddenly this Friday night, for many of us, beyond respecting and admiring his father, appreciated and were enlightened by his own story. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I feel deeply grieved for Brian Burke's loss and wish him the very best.

Our previous night's defeat to the Devils was defintely one of the toughest results of this difficult season, and that's saying a lot. While the sad news of Brendan Burke's passing simply can't be measured, perhaps getting back to hockey quickly again will do some good for the fans and players alike. The Battle of (yawn) Ontario resumes with the Sens coming into Toronto riding a ridiculous 11-game winning streak.

Before the game begins there is a moment of silence for Brendan Burke.

Bob Cole's voice calling tonight's game on CBC. Wonderful.

First Period

18:59 Penalty. A holding call behind the Ottawa goal. Leafs go to the powerplay early as Carkner goes to the box.

18:24 Good shot by Phaneuf on a one-timer from Kaberle, stopped by Elliotte.

17:30 Phaneuf blast blocked by Ruutu.

16:59 Penalty expires.

16:30 Hanson throws a hit deep in the Ottawa zone.

15:59 Penalty. Kulemin taken down a centre-ice. Picard for tripping.

15:16 GOAL!!! Kessel scores. Phaneuf, set up by Kaberle, blasts one off the post. Kessel grabs the rebound and gets two whacks at it, bouncing it in. Powerplay goal, Kessel, from Phaneuf and Kaberle.

14:50 Orr with a spin-around shot in the slot, stopped by Elliotte.

13:25 Alfie gets the boos.

12:45 Giguere handles the puck smoothly to keep the Leafs out of danger, then holds a glove save for a whistle after the Leafs turn over the puck, killing momentum. Little things sometimes make a big difference.

11:35 Fight! Orr and Carkner. Gee whiz. Orr destroys Carkner with 3 solid shots to the face. The lights are still on but it looks like there's nobody home for Carkner who gets sent to the dressing room.

9:00 Schenn throws a good hit.

8:00 Giguere with a solid save at the side of the goal and holds the puck, ending another dangerous Ottawa shift early.

6:55 Michalek with a partial breakaway, Giguere makes the save look easy.

6:25 Alfie cutting in on net, save Giguere, then gets bumped by the Ottawa Captain. No penalty! Great save Giguere. Can't believe there's no call for goaltender interference. Junk.

6:08 Penalty. Kovalev snaps Bozak's stick for a stupid penalty. Leafs' third powerplay of the period.

4:50 Nothing doin' with the man-advantage. Mitchell falls for no reason and the Senators clear the puck again.

4:08 Powerplay ends without a shot on goal.

3:45 GOAL!!! Luke Schenn. My God! What a goal! Sailing over the blue line like Bobby Orr, Schenn rifles a slap shot past Elliott. 2-0 Toronto. Sjostrom and Wallin get assists on OLAS' goal.

3:17 GOAL!!! Beautiful goal. Tic-tac-toe play between 4 players. Schenn starts it off but I don't think he's going to get an assist. Kessel and Bozak assisting on Ponikarovsky' 20th goal. Correction: After announcing the goal as Poni's, it's determined that the puck went in off an Ottawa player and Bozak gets credit for the goal. Kessel with an assist still, and Schenn picks up the second assist.

1:40 2-on-1. Hanson shooting, Elliotte makes the save, then Carkner is called for elbowing Mitchell behind the play.

0:25 Hanson gives the puck away but then does a nice job backchecking and spoils a breakaway for the Sens.

Period ends. Shots 13-11 for Toronto, score 3-0. Giguere's 4th scoreless period for the Leafs.

Second Period

19:40 Great diving shot block by Poni.

17:58 Penalty. Kovalev for hooking. in the Ottawa zone.

16:50 Not a good shoot-in by Phaneuf but the Leafs retain possession after Elliotte gives the puck away.

16:00 Kuelmin bangs a puck loose from Elliotte's pads and the puck trickles past the open goal. Hanson isn't there in time to jam it in.

14:34 Penalty. Good chance for the Sens. Neal's shot stopped then another chance on the rebound, stopped by Giguere. However a holding penalty on the play to Luke Schenn.

12:55 Phaneuf, XLB get signals crossed. Spezza carries the puck off-side.

12:30 Hanson, Stempniak 2-on-1, shot by Hanson stopped by Elliotte's blocker. Shorthanded pressure continues as Hanson gets 2 more shots. Penalty expires.

8:50 Great chance for the Sens. Giguere somehow keeps it out. Cheechoo's shot from the slot is stopped through a screen and then the rebound gets lost in traffic as Regin can't bang it in.

7:35 Penalty. Ponikarovsky for hooking. Seems like a weak call.

7:00 Spezza nearly breaks in, gets hit, spun around, loses the puck.

6:30 Fans are really on Alfredsson.

6:10 Great shift by Stempniak. Nice backchecking and throws a big hit before going off, fans applauding.

5:35 Penalty expires.

5:05 Kessel to Bozak, one-timer stopped by Elliotte.

4:00 Gunnarsson's hard shot from the point hits Elliotte in the chest.

3:20 Cheechoo stopped from in close on his own rebound.

2:00 Sjostrom with great puck retrieval behind the Sens goal, centres to Kulemin who just misses the tap in.

1:35 GOAL!!! Kessel. Wow. Kessel carries the puck through the neutral zone and over the line and fires a lazer past Elliotte. Huge game for Kessel. His 3rd point tonight, and his 20th goal of the season. Assists to Bozak and Poni.

0:10 Phaneuf shot from the blueline is a bullet. Elliotte hangs on.

Period ends. Shots in that period 17-11 for the Leafs, 30-22 overall. Score 4-0. Giguere has 5 straight shut-out periods, 100 minutes without giving up a goal, since joining the Leafs.

Third Period

20:00 Leclaire replaces Elliotte in goal for Ottawa.

18:30 Regin shot from in close off Giguere's shoulder.

17:40 Kaberle's shot gets through a screen, nice save by Leclaire.

17:25 Kaberle's helmet knocked off, still plays the puck cooly. Even cooler now, actually.

16:40 Big rebound by Giguere, bit of a mad scramble but no one can find the puck as it bounces harmlessly away.

16:16 Penalty. Orr goes for crosschecking Neil in front of the net.

15:00 Fisher cuts into the zone and gets a backhand shot on goal and then bumps Giguere.

14:45 Sjostrom with a nifty chance shorthanded, Leclaire had to be sharp.

14:00 Stempniak blocks a shot and then breaks the other way, fires a slapshot wide from just inside the line.

11:43 GOAL!!! Luke Schenn. Holy God! Schenn does itagain. A 2-on-1 with Hanson and Schenn plays the shot the whole way, firing the puck past Lecalire. 5-nothin'. This is looking to be the Leafs most lopsided victory of the season. Luke Schenn having an awesome game. 3-point night.

10:50 Solid "Go Leafs Go!" chant.

10:00 Orr banged along the boards by Volchenkov.

9:28 Penalty. Kulemin hit from behind by Regin. Another offensive zone infraction. Pretty sloppy. Sens winning streak goes out with a whimper.

9:15 Schenn looking for the hat-trick on the powerplay, fires from dead-centre on the blueline, stopped by Leclaire.

8:22 Penalty. Leafs powerplay ends as Hanson gets called for boarding, yet another penalty 180-feet from the goal. Not a great call, but it's 5-0 so who cares.

8:00 Leafs fans doing the wave? This may be our one chance this year to celebrate a victory like this. Go on. Let it all out.

7:28 Leafs survive 4-on-4. Sens powerplay begins.

6:22 Sens powerplay goes by without a good chance. Leafs fans still doing the wave and getting louder. This is more then just cheering for this one game. This is a salute to the new Leafs - the team that Burke is building - that seems re-energized and has the fans excited again. And by extension, it's a salute to Brian Burke the man himself, and then the emotion kicks in, and it's an outpourring of appreciation and spirit.

5:15 God, listen to the fans. Huge "Go Leafs Go!" chant.

5:05-4:05 Energy from the fans carries the game for another minute, play is mostly held to the perimeter, dump in, dump out.

2:05 Ottawa running out the clock. No hitting.

0:30 Ruutu drives the net. Great save by Giguere to preserve the shutout.

0:00 Game ends. Back-to-back shutouts for Giguere. Six periods without a goal since joining the Leafs. Unbelievable. What a game for Kessel and Schenn. Both of them have 2 goals and both assist on the other goal by Bozak. Honourable mention to Hanson who also played a great game at both ends of the ice.


The BoOBbB continues...

TORONTO - Ron Wilson leaned on the lectern with both hands. It was the end of a night that had been punctuated with a win, but it was also the end of a day filled with sadness for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the head coach opened his post-game media address on a personal note.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere became the first goalie in Toronto history to have shutouts in his first two games with the team, stopping 30 shots to help the Maple Leafs beat Ottawa 5-0 on Saturday night -- ending the Senators' winning streak at 11. Acquired in a trade with Anaheim on Jan. 31, Giguere beat New Jersey 3-0 on Tuesday night in his Maple Leafs debut.

A moment of silence will be held for Brendan Burke, the son of Toronto general manager Brian Burke who died in a car accident, before the Maple Leafs play Ottawa on Saturday night. The 21-year-old Burke died after his car slid sideways into the path of another car on a snowy Indiana road on Friday. Burke's friend, 18-year-old Mark Reedy of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., also died in the accident.

You won't find them anywhere in the scoring stats, but make no mistake about it: This win belongs to Montreal's fourth line.

The youngest son of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke has died in a car crash.

via a tweet from Damien Cox,

Oh my goodness, what awful news. Brian Burke’s son, Brendan, was killed in a car accident today in Indiana. Huge prayers to the family.

Prayers go out to his family.

added 10:05pm, from the Palladium-Item,

Heavy accumulations of snowfall on Friday rendered area roads treacherous and claimed the lives of two people, injuring others and sparking a string of slideoffs and fender benders.

Brendan Burke, 21, Canton, Mass., and Mark A. Reedy, 18, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., died at the scene of a two-vehicle accident at U.S. 35 north of Economy. The accident was reported at 2:50 p.m.

Investigators said Burke was driving eastbound on U.S. 35 in a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee when, according to witnesses, the vehicle slid sideways into an oncoming 1997 Ford Truck driven by 24-year-old Michael Moreland of Lynn. Moreland was not hurt.

continued

(Above all else, R.I.P. Brendan Burke .) No. 1 Star: Jason LaBarbera, Phoenix Coyotes The Coyotes backup goalie...

My condolences and deepest heartfelt sympathies to the Burke and Reedy families in this time of loss. The thoughts of Leaf nation are with you in this difficult time.

There were some colossal trades that took place last week. Some players of the players dealt were expected to be moved, others not. Some of the teams were expected to make these moves, others involved came from no where. But the ultimate question it boils down to --especially when dealing with players like Kovalchuk and Phaneuf-- is who wins the trade?

First the Kovalchuk deal:
By now some of the immediate intuition has died down. I personally see a big name get moved and jump to the conclusion that his destination is always the winner, but that may not be the case. I feel that is true of the Kovalchuk deal. When I saw that Kovy was a Devil I was pretty upset, as a Flyers fan I thought the Atlantic was competitive enough without one of the world's best snipers. Then I saw what the Devils gave up and couldn't believe it, seemingly nothing for a player of Ilya's calibre! But at second glance there is little else Waddell could do. Everyone knew Kovy was walking at the end of the season, they made it quite public that Waddell tried numurous times to sign him and it wasn't happening. At the same time, everyone saw what kind of money Kovalchuk was turning down, when a captain won't resign with his team for over 100 million dollars it definitely raises some red flags about acquiring him since it's hard to consider retaining him.
Ultimately, Waddell's hand was forced. He was asking for a top 6 forward, a top 4 defenceman, a prospect and a first rounder. What he got was Bergfors (a top 6-9 forward), Oduya (a top 4 d-man), Cormier (a prospect, albeit a dicey one) and a first rounder. If Jersey makes it to the Finals with Kovy riding shot-gun, they win. If 3 of those 4 players in return become regulars in the Atlanta line-up, they did pretty well given the circumstances.

Now the Phaneuf Trade:
The Flames and Leafs were in dire need of a shake-up. Calgary had Stanley Cup hopes coming in to the season and Toronto had playoff hopes coming in as well. What ended up happening was the Flames take a free fall, and Phaneuf becomes the scape-goat for not being a Norris candidate. It's hard to pin-point Dion directly, I mean when your team doesn't seem to want to score there is only so much you can do as a defenseman. Sure he has a cannon of a shot but I think the finger should be pointed at Iginla to start putting points on the board before you criticize Phaneuf. Either way, Dion was shipped out in exchange for Stajan, White, Hagman and Mayers. Now I look at these players and think... Burke you manipulative bastard. After looking it over a little more carefully, I still feel that way. I mean, what Toronto loses is a player who is probably an average second line center on most teams in Stajan, an under-rated yet undersized White, Hagman who's probably under-rated as well but his value is slightly embellished given the amount of ice-time he got on a weak Toronto team, and finally Mayers who wanted out and was probably a throw in at that point. This trade will take the Flames to the playoffs, but how far are you going to get with Stajan as your top centerman? I just think Calgary could have gotten a much better player to compliment Iggy for an asset like Phaneuf. If you have a defense as solid as Calgary does with Kipper behind them, I think they could be much more dangerous relying on Iginla and say Brad Richards to chip in a few goals and win tight games.

Toronto on the other hand gets Phaneuf, Sjostrom and Aulie. Phaneuf is your typical Brian Burke player, big, fast and physical with a huge shot. He gives them a presence that makes teams think twice about carrying pucks through the neutral zone and then think a third time when they go to the corner to chase the puck they just dumped. He should improve the power-play as well. I've heard people say that it decimates the Leafs offense and that is completely true. What they don't realize is they aren't trying to win a Cup this year. Burke just aquired a player who will develop with Kessel, Schenn and maybe Kadri and Bozak to form their core for the forseeable future. This deal wasn't about this year for Burke, or even next year for that matter. But the following years after that he has a core group that will be very competitive.
I think this deal also saved Burkes reputation in Toronto. Being from the area, there wasn't a day that went by where he wasn't criticized for trading those first round picks for Kessel. This deal means that despite the fact that they lost those picks, they have Kessel, Phaneuf and Aulie(a great prospect in his own right) to show for it. Players who have already established themselves as NHL'ers and are already well into the development curve, ultimately meaning a shorter rebuild time.
Brent Sutter better let Darryl have all the Easter ham he wants, because in no other situation would you resort to sending off your 24 year-old defenseman (who has already been considered for a Norris) before you fire the coach.

This is getting kind of lengthy but I haven't blogged in a while. Who do you think came out winners? Bonus points if you say Philly for acquiring Leino and dumping Tollefson.

Cheers

The Calgary Flames were quick on the draw on Friday night, parlaying two clean faceoff wins into power-play goals as they opened a road trip with a win over the Florida Panthers.

Tragic news breaking tonight as Brendan Burke, son of Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian...

NEWARK, N.J. - Ilya Kovalchuk's debut with the New Jersey Devils had a storybook ending, except journeyman Jay Pandolfo provided the big goal instead of the high-scoring Russian.