The Fifth Liners

Ever since long time star, Jarome Iginla packed his bags and said goodbye to the circus, fans of the Calgary Flames have endured a bleak season in Alberta. Last season was truly one to forget because aside from surprising yet massively amusing line brawl that broke out against Vancouver, they finished only 6th in the Pacific Division with a depressingly low goal total of 209 and a whopping 241 goals against! Along with the retirement of hero goalie Miikka Kiprusoff , the atmosphere at the Canadian Tire Centre had turned barren and many experts wrote the Flames off as a lost cause. But in this off season, a few key acquisitions have paved the way for a possibly brighter 2014-15 season. The first step was drafting young star centre Sam Bennett fourth overall at the 2014 Draft. Touted by many as 1st overall pick, Bennett surprisingly was passed over by Florida in favour of defense-man Aaron Ekblad . Although he may have been disappointed at being denied this distinction, the Flames h...

On June 27/28 all eyes will be on the 2014 NHL Draft  at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia and the big question to all experts will be who is going to be the first name called out by the Florida Panthers. All though there is huge speculation about which player it will, this is one event teams always need to think about carefully because they young men could well be the future of a franchise and will have to be chosen carefully- no one wants another Alexandre Daigle or Patrik Stefan after all! So as we analyse the top picks, which one will great;y benefit which team? Here I will look at the first six picks (partly to include Vancouver). 2014 NHL Draft Order 1. Florida Panthers Sam Bennett: The Panthers badly need an offensive spark as their goal numbers have still remained dangerously low, something that number 2 pick Aleksander Barkov has so far failed to raise. So far 18 year old Ontario kid Sam Bennett has been listed as the top North American prospect in the NHL draft...

Last night, Florida Panthers fans were given rare positive news when it was announce that they won the first overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft after their name was picked from the Draft Lottery. After another  poor season last year, the Panthers management should already been looking towards the next superstar of the franchise- and this draft year there is a lot of quality on show such as Canadian centre Sam Bennett, defenseman Aaron Ekblad or Sam Reinhart. Plus lets not forget top European prospect Kasperi Kapanen. But does one play change an entire franchises luck? In the case of the Colorado Avalanche the answer to that question is indeed yes as last years number one pick Nathan Mackinnon has proven to be an excellent choice and is one of the favourites for the Calder Trophy this year after an excellent rookie season. However, there is a flipside to that coin, and some teams have failed to raise their game even after more than one first overall picks- yes I am referri...

This season the New York Islanders are playing their first playoff game since 2007 and last night visited the on-form Pittsburgh Penguins . In a game which included 89 penalty minutes, the Pens put five goals past the Isles. Beau Bennett , Pascal Dupuis , Kris Letang and Tanner Glass all netted to give the Pens the advantage in the series. Full story  here. In other Penguins news, superstar Sidney Crosby is on the verge of returning although there's still no timetable. Sid is training with the team in the morning skates and is just waiting for the doc to sign him off. More info  here.