In the past couple of days, the New York Rangers who are tied with the Canadiens for 5th spot in the conference have just fired their head coach Tom Renney. With the amount of pressure and expectations the city of Montreal brings to their team, one would think that Carbonneau is under a lot more pressure compared to other coaches around the NHL. Especially since it’s the Habs 100th year anniversary celebrating the development of the team, everyone around the National Hockey League including fans are expecting a very successful season from the Habs.

I personally hope that Guy Carbonneau remains head coach for the Montreal Canadiens for this season, and for many more seasons to come. Carbonneau including his assistants Doug Jarvis, and Kirk Muller have been a part of the Montreal Canadiens organization for years. If Bob Gainey were to relieve Guy of his duties, who else could he possibly find as a replacement to match such a character behind the Canadiens bench? Who else knows more about the organization? Who else played as many games and is considered a hall of famer around the city of Montreal who can coach for the Les Habitants?

I believe every team goes through a downfall at some point in their season (the Kostitsyn brothers involved with the mob and Carey Price loving to party) unfortunately it has now come for Guy Carbonneau and the Canadians, and at a crucial time.

Justin Pogge is known to be a great prospect and the future number one goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs, however, if he continues to be sent back and forth from the minors, fans should not expect too much. Not only does the coaching staff for the Leafs throw Pogge between the pipes against The Minnesota Wild, a team that is tied for seventh place in the Western conference, but they send him right back down to the minors after an embarrassing 6-1 loss.

If you are a young prospect looking to crack the NHL lineup, you are not going to have much confidence if you get sent down after one bad game. The Toronto Maple Leafs coaching staff has to make a choice whether they want Pogge to continue to develop in their minor league system, or bring him up to play a few games here and there, but keep him in the lineup! Let Pogge learn and develop as a goaltender in the NHL, don’t bring him up for one game and send him right back down especially after he gets embarrassed in a 6-1 loss.

What ever confidence Pogge had coming into this game, it is now crushed all thanks to The Toronto Maple Leafs coaching staff. Great way to help develop your future greats!

When the 3 Russians arrived in Montreal this past weekend, Kovalchuk acted as the peace keeper when he decided to take fellow Russian superstars Ovechkin and Malkin out to dinner. Kovalchuk explained to the 2  that if they wanted to do well throughout their career playing for the Russian National team, that the 2 men have to start getting along.  Kovalchuk believed that if the 3 of them got along well, that they would have a tremendous amount of chemistry together, which would contribute to their overall success as superstars.

Watching Malkin help Ovechkin with his shootout competition, it is obvious that this rivalry has cooled down. Knowing that these players have rekindled their friendship with one another is great for them however, what impact does this have on the fans?

In the past I would have always wanted to watch a Penguins/Capitals game to see these 2 Russians go head to head and battle it out. Now that they are friends will they still have the same competitive spirit when they play each other? Or are we going to witness just another game where 2 teams just play for the Win?

Thanks to Ilya Kovalchuk we may never see an Ovechkin/Malkin fight, but we will see 3 of the greatest NHL Superstars play for team Russia happily together.

This is coming for a guy who has never made an All Star Game before, go figure!

They feel that the time period where they would have the all star game would be a good resting period for the NHL. I personally believe that this should not happen, why take out a historical event that has been around for so many years? To have a resting period and or focus more on a world cup event? When I first heard about this, I laughed to myself; I didn’t think they were serious. One of the most exciting things in hockey all year is to watch the best players in the world play together and show off their skills. Not only do we see the superstars of our time play together, we witness the young stars game as well!

Fans all over the world get to watch the best rookies go head to head and compete with each other. One of the most exciting things about hockey are the goals, and where else do you see more goals then in an all-star game? Sure the goalies don’t have the time of their lives, but they are sacrificing a few days out of their schedule to satisfy fans across the nation.

The players rave about how much fun the All Star Game festivities and playing with other superstars they faceoff against each night.  The memories are endless.

Year after year goes by and every all-star weekend has been sold out; does that change anything with the NHLPA? If the players association doesn’t like making the most loyal hockey fans around the world happy, then they should go ahead and take this event out of the game.

Remember this game was made for the fans and not for the players to take a mid season vacation.

With a new head coach and Jermaine O’Neal out of the line up with an injury, Bargnani has never played so well in his career. Averaging more than 20 points in his last 8 games, and 2nd on his team in scoring.

Should the 7 foot center give credit to the new coaching system Jay Triano has developed? Or should he thank his head coach for letting him grow as a player with the amount of minutes he now gets per game?

The fact that Andrea Bargnani was the #1 draft pick 3 years ago and compared to Dirk Nowitzki; there was a great amount of pressure on him.  Everyone thought that this 7 foot giant would make an impact as soon as he stepped on the court.  With the focus now on Jermaine O’Neal and what’s going to happen to the former all star, a lot of weight has been lifted off of Bargnani’s shoulders which is why he is now performing beyond everyone’s expectations.

At this time we are watching a young talented center grow on the Raptors roster and continue to improve as he builds more and more confidence in his game. Only time will tell if Andrea Bargnani’s scoring in the paint and draining 3’s on a regular game basis will continue at this torrent pace.

Has Andrea Bargnani hit a little hot streak and will he eventually come back down to earth and disappoint Raptor fans with his lack of consistency?

We just don’t know, but I think we may be witnessing another NBA All Star in the making.

Hearing the disappointing news on Tuesday night, Islanders star goalie wasn’t too pleased, but feels it will benefit him and the team in the future.

“This has been one of the most frustrating situations I have ever had to deal with, but this is the right decision for me and the team. I am confident this will allow me to make a complete recovery, be ready in plenty of time for next season and compete to my highest ability for many years to come.” — Rick DiPietro

With Rick Dipietro out of the picture for the rest of the season, and the Islanders truly struggling.  They have put up as many points as they have losses this year, is it safe to say that we will be seeing number 91 stitched on a New York Islander jersey next season?

With John Tavares being the projected number #1 pick for the upcoming season, and having a 10 point cushion between the last place New York Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers, who would argue that John Tavares isn’t already packing his bags to head to New York? If and when Tavares suits up for the Islanders next year, who is going to play on his line? Is he going to have a blow out year as we should expect? Or are we going to witness another Steven Stamkos in the making? Is he going to have little to no ice time playing anywhere from the 2nd to 4th line? Or are the Islanders going to count on him to help achieve their organizations goals?

In conclusion, with one of their worst seasons in decades, the New York Islanders may have a bright future ahead of them after all, if they manage to reel in John Tavares.

“It’s absolutely personal. You want to see that team (Leafs) lose every game for the next 10 years. That’s how I feel to be honest with you.” Said Paul Maurice in an interview with the Toronto Star

Paul Maurice was back behind the bench at the Air Canada Center yesterday but this time coaching the Carolina Hurricanes. Maurice returned to Carolina after spending 7 seasons with the Hurricanes before getting fired.  He had his most success with the Hurricanes making the playoffs 3 out of 6 years and the Stanley Cup Finals once.

Everyone had their eye on Paul Maurice last night as his coaching skills were put to the test against his old team. Not only did the Carolina Hurricanes come out with the big 2-0 win at the ACC, he told the press that,

“Nothing feels better then beating the organization that had relieved me of my duties.”

A coach that was given no supporting cast in Toronto and only one option to win the Cup.  I would have made the same comments after a win in the city that fired me.

Montreal, the city host of the All Star game has decided on nominating four individuals from their home town team to take part in this event.  Alex Kovalev, Carey Price, Mike Komisarek, and Andrei Markov are fortunate enough to play in front of their loyal Canadian fans however, do these Montreal Canadiens players deserve it? Sure Alex Kovalev has experienced the thrill of being in an All Star game in the past, but why should he be attending this year’s? Last hear he tallied 35 goals in 82 games for the Habs; this year he has only put up 12 goals in 44 games. Conversely, Patrick Marleau, the captain for the best team in the Western conference has 24 goals and 49 points in 44 games, so why is he snubbed out of a player slot?

Steve Mason plays for the 10th seeded Columbus Blue Jackets in the Western conference, and he still manages to post up a league leading average of 1.91 goals against per game. Yet, even though he is Canadian, he is has not been voted in.

One of the players that is not attending the exciting game is Henrik Zetterberg. Not only is he a key factor in making his team being one of the best in the league, he is one of the most exciting players to watch when he controls the puck on his stick. Zetterberg is a natural goal scorer that has 42 points in 43 games and is still snubbed out of a position.

It obviously shows that the players who attend the NHL All Star game are the most popular ones in the game and are not the individuals who work hard all year earn the points and put up great statistics.