Rod Phillips

Some news and notes from across the blogs: Habs Inside/Out: New sheriff in town ... and he's taking names. Jacques Martin sure isn't babying his players. The Bruins Blog: Chara, Begin just taking maintenance day. Good news for the Bruins as they are going to need these guys. Raw Charge: Lightning ownership situation back in spotlight. It is too bad that this distraction is taking away focus from what looks to be a promising season for the Bolts. Working the Corners: Manny Malhotra is officially a Shark — and his salary fits under the salary cap. Can't believe how low he signed for, especially considering the amount he left on the table from Atlanta. Puck Daddy: Operation Sellout: Coyotes desperately drop prices for opener. What is going on in Arizona? I've often wondered what do you have to do to be a recipient of free tickets to a game? Do you just stand outside the arena and hope someone will offer you a ticket? NHL Fanhouse: Islanders closer to hiring moving vans. Yesterday wasn't a great day for Islanders owner Charles Wang. His meetings on the Island weren't great and it appears that K.C. didn't do a banner job of selling tickets to the game. Word was that lower bowl tickets could be purchased for $10. That is insane. Greatest Hockey Legends: The business of Wayne. He even made an early segment of Pardon The Interuption today and they almost never talk hockey. Broad Street Hockey: Flyers special teams are better than you think. The Flyers are for real this season. Canucks Hockey Blog: Codiva Primadonna Hod-SUN. Is all the Hodgson hype not based in reality? While fans may be souring on Hodgson, it appears that they are coo coo for Sergei Shirokov. The Hockey News: Top 10 NHL backups. Pretty good list. A View from the Cheap Seats: Reflections on the career of Olaf Kolzig. Caps fans have a lot of good memories of him. Canes Country: Would losing in 2009/10 benefit the Hurricanes in the long run? While they might be losing players after this season, apparently this draft year isn't reported to be overly strong so this may not be the year to implement this plan. Sens Chirp: A few evening rumours. Just went you thought it was a little too quiet in the Nation's capital. Black Aces: Rookies and Veterans in the mix. Chris Kelly is taking some heat in Ottawa. Hitting the Post: To play or not to play is an Olympic question being pondered. Seems the NHL won't have much choice unless it wants to damage its relationship with Ovechkin and Malkin so it should likely just extend the agreement till 2014 and then decide after that. Good news is the front runners for 2018 Winter Olympics are France, Germany & South Korea who are not major hockey producers. Down Goes Brown: Top 10 Toronto Maple Leafs fights of all time. Love it when Domi takes on the fan when he is in the penalty box. Classic. Maple Leafs Hot Stove: Leafs comeback falls short. Gotta do something about these slow starts. Defending Big D: The Curious Cases of Fabian Brunnstrom and Jamie Benn. It is a good thing that Benn has exceeded expectations for the Stars. Cult of Hockey: Rod Phillips in mid-season form. Long time voice of Oilers radio still sounds pretty good. Thrashers TV: Evander Kane got his name from Atlanta's boxing icon, Evander Holyfield and the two got to meet and spend some time together at a Thrashers morning skate. The Champ looks like he could still go a round or two. Tonight's picture of the night comes courtesy of the Battle of Alberta as the Flames beat the Oilers on the score sheet (5-3) and with their fists:

Nightly Hockey Hits: Islanders closer to hiring moving vans, Jacques Martin isn’t using kid gloves with the Habs, To play or not to play in the Olympics, Sharks sign Malhotra on the cheap.