The Fifth Liners

If you want to join Alex and myself in the  Fifth Liners NHL Bracket Challenge , feel free to join our league. Good luck! Quarter Final Predictions St Louis Blues v Minnesota Wild For this one, I have go with Minnesota Wild purely for the fact that they have been a real surprise package in the latter half of this season and I think they will be eager to please come playoff time! St Louis on the surface appears to be a perfect package after being seeded first overall. But in previous seasons they have looked impressive in the regular season,, but typical fall short in the playoffs! Also a good playoff run would be the perfect ending for Wild goalie, Devan Dubnyk who has had a career season! This one will be tight and I am prepared to be proven wrong, but right now I have to go with the Wild! Prediction: Wild Nashville Predators v Chicago Blackhawks  The Predators have had nothing short of an amazing season and although they have made the playoffs 7 times in the la...

Eastern Conference New York Islanders If someone had told you that the New York Islanders would be top of the Eastern Conference by this point the season- you would have requested a drugs test! So far this season thanks to some clever moves in the off season, the Islanders are giving the Nassau Coliseum a fine send off! After winning the Battle of New York against the Rangers the other night, they are looking like a team reborn. Unsurprisingly the main success has been Captain Marvel, John Tavares who leads the team scoring charts with 39 points. Kyle Okposo as usual is not hanging far behind and Brock Nelson has also been another strong team element. But it was the signings of Johnny Boychuk from the Bruins to anchor the blue line along with Nick Leddy and Nikolai Kulemin to bolster the lower lines that have made the key difference. Jaroslav Halak after playing for three different sides last season has found a new home in Long Island and his presence in net has been cruci...

Appears the NHL is looking to promote cycling safety at the upcoming All Star game on Jan 25! Well that would be the only excuse for the new horrendous luminous jersey's they have selected for the leagues finest to wear. But unlike previous offenders, this one will warrant only a slap on the wrist! Here are some of the leagues more forgettable jersey inclusions. Vancouver Canucks (1982 Home Jersey)  As bigger fan as I am of the Canucks, this jersey along with the majority of their earlier ones, was a mess! Nothing went right with their original 1982 effort and for years Vancouver had one of the ugliest jerseys in the league!  Finally they have gotten things right with our current uniform, but that doesn't erase the nightmares of old! Phoenix Coyotes (1996 Inaugural Jersey)  Oh dear! This complete miss-match of teal, desert and cactus is like something your Dad would embarrass you with at a family gathering! As for the logo, it is a good thing the Coy...

Among the numerous surprises in the Nashville Predators brilliant start to this season, has been the unexpected form of 20 year old Swedish winger, Filip Forsberg . This young gun is no stranger in the NHL, but so far this season he is sure making an impression with 9 goals and 22 points already! Baring no relation at all to Avalanche legend Peter Forsberg, Filip has shown his true qualities this year and this is marking him as a possible candidate for the Calder Trophy. Originally drafted 11th overall by the Washington Capitals back in 2012, Forsberg spent the majority of his first season playing back in Sweden for his old side Leksands IF. But a blow came when he was unexpected traded to the Predators in 2013. His progress there to start with was slow and last season he notched up only 5 points from a mere 13 NHL games (4 of which were assists). For development he was assigned to the team's AHL affiliate the Milwaukee Admirals where he fared better scoring 34 points in 47 gam...

Things between P.K Subban and the Montreal Canadiens are beginning to look slightly difficult currently after a meeting over his contract on Friday morning. Both sides have been unable to agree a deal which means the process has been forwarded to Arbitration to be decided. A restricted free agent, Subban allegedly wants a new deal worth $8.5 Million whereas the Habs are only willing to go as high as $5.25 million. It does beg the question of whether PK should be demanding this kind of money so early in his career? Yes he has been one of the rocks in the Montreal defense and was a key figure during their run to the Eastern Conference final last year- but surely this doesn't give him the right make these sort of demands now? Problem for the Habs is that losing this guy will be a thought not worth considering since it would severely reduce the quality gap at the blue line. After a rocky 21 year gap of winning trophies, Subban represents the closest shot they have had to returning ...

They say everything happens for a reason, that God moves in mysterious ways, it's the circle of life etc... In a move compared by my fellow troublemaker Alex to "trading Sidney Crosby for magic beans", the New York Rangers have traded defenceman Michael Del Zotto to the Nashville Predators. In return, the Rangers get blueliner Kevin Klein. Answers on a postcard if you can figure out why. Klein has played 403 games in the NHL, 47 so far this season, although he took time out to film Last Vegas with Robert De Niro and Morgan Freeman. Worryingly for the Rangers, his best days seem to be behind him. He's also injury prone; missing several games each season. A few seasons ago, after starring alongside Will Smith in Wild Wild West, he posted good numbers, and was shaping up to be a dependable first line defenceman. Since 2010/11 Klein's numbers have been slipping, and he's currently rocking a +/- of -11. Compared to last season (after the same number of ga...

Today it was announced that Los Angeles Kings backup goalie Ben Scrivens has been traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2014 third round draft pick, meanwhile regular goalie Devan Dubnyk has also been traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Matt Hendricks! Trading Scrivens is either a stroke of genius by Edmonton or pure silliness by LA because this player has been one of the finds of the season since he deputised so superbly for regular Kings goalie Jonathan Quick back in November, and so far he holds a record of 7-5-4 with a 1.97 GAA! This also included 10 shutouts and two first star performances (one of which I witnessed against the Rangers at the Garden). Being Quick's backup is a bit like being Petr Cech's number two at Chelsea, which is unless something drastic happens, you don't even consider leaving the bench!  So in that light, this move will give the guy game time, which he is not assured of at LA. But also it weakens the Kings b...

It seems that Washington's Czech fourth-liner isn't happy and wants out of the nation's capital. A few years ago Erat was the Nashville Predator's starting right winger, terrorising defences across the length and breadth of the NHL. But those days are gone, Erat was traded to the Washington Capitals in the 2013 trade deadline after waiving his no-trade clause and asking to move. It seems though that the grass is not always greener and Erat revealed to the Czech press (and subsequently the local press) that he's unhappy and wants to move on. "It's time for me to move on." He said. The Caps' GM; George McPhee has accepted that after averaging just 13 minutes ice time per game and totalling six points for the season, it's probably time to look elsewhere.

Former NHL forward Jason Arnott has called time on a glorious 18 year career that has taken in the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals to most notably the New Jersey Devils. He last played for St Louis in 2011/12, but has not played since. He did sign a contract with the New York Rangers in January this year but was not cleared by the team doctors. Since being drafted 7th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, he has gone on to record 417 goals and 938 points in 1,244 career games. The highlight of his career was a Stanley Cup win in 2000 with the Devils where he score d the championship clinching goal in game 6 against Dallas! Upon announcing his retirement, Arnott said in a statement "I would like to thank everyone who helped me throughout my NHL career, including my family, friends, teammates and fans. Playing in the NHL was my dream and I am very proud and appreciative of the fact I was able to play at the highest level for 19 years wit...

After emerging from a tense couple of hours in the cinema watching Tom Hanks cope with being hijacked by pirates in 'Captain Phillips' I found Mike's question of the week on my phone which read, " Pekka Rinne is going to miss 4 weeks due to Injury, how much will this affect his teams performance?" The two time Veniza trophy nominee has proven to be a wall in net for the Nashville Predators since arriving in 2005 and so far he holds a win/loss rate of 153-83 and impressively holds a save percentage of .920! Rinne has without question been the most important factor of the Predators over the last few years and has led them to no less than 8 visits to the Playoffs. But with the team no losing him, it will either be a time for his backups to sink or swim and now Nashville has the worrying issue that both Carter Hutton and Magnus Hellberg do not have any NHL experience under their belts. Hutton briefly was called up to the Chicago Blackhawks during their Stanle...

With the new schedules come the new divisions, instead of being three divisions in each conference, there's now only two. With the changes will come new rivalries, which Alex will talk about later.  Let's start with the Western Conference. The Western has 14 teams while the Eastern currently has 16. This accommodates for the expansion in the west that the NHL has been looking for. Detroit and Columbus have moved over to the Eastern while Winnipeg makes the sensible move west.  Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks Vancouver Canucks Dallas leaves the old Pacific Division, but three of the Canadian teams; Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary have joined it from the disbanded Northwest Division.  Central Division Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars Minnesota Wild Nashville Predators St. Louis Blues Winnipeg Jets With Colom...

Do not adjust your screen. Pic from twitter. It's for summer only. The Bridgestone Arena is doing it for the kids so they can skate on gold. Jokes aside, it looks kinda cool.

Alex's question of the week was "out of the top four draft picks, which team will benefit the most?" Damn good question Alex, so let's have a look. First of all, no team did badly in the draft. At least on paper. So who went where? 1st: Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche 2nd: Aleksander Barkov - Florida Panthers 3rd: Jonathan Drouin - Tampa Bay 4th: Seth Jones - Nashville Predators Colorado Avalanche The Avs need several good forwards and several good defencemen to be successful. MacKinnon definitely adds strength to Colorado's forward line but one man does not make a team. I think MacKinnon will struggle to post the sort of numbers he's currently scoring in the lower levels.  Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov has already played against the big boys in the Finnish SM Liiga so he'll have an advantage when he lines up for the Panthers. Tampa Bay Lightning The Lightning will expect to do well with Drouin. With Stamkos and F...

Nathan Mackinnon was selected as the 1st overall pick by the Colorado Avalanche in New Jersey last night, after an impressive season with the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior League it came as little surprise to many and capped an impressive comeback after a knee injury during the World Junior Championships had threatened to lower his ranking. Young Finnish centre Aleksander Barkov was chosen as the second selection by the Florida Panthers and Mackinnon's Halifax team mate, Jonathan Drouin was picked as the third overall choice by Tampa Bay Lightning . Biggest surprise of the night came when original number one prediction Seth Jones was only selected fourth by the Nashville Predators . Swedish centre Elias Lindholm was the fifth choice for the Carolina Hurricanes while Sean Monahan was added to the Calgary Flames at sixth overall. There was a shake up at  the 9th overall pick as the Vancouver Canucks unexpectedly traded Cory Schneider to the New Jersey...

The Nashville Predators join the Calgary Flames and the Colorado Avalanche in the list of teams out of contention for the Western playoffs. The Preds welcomed the Vancouver Canucks and got a 5-2 kicking in return. Full story  here.

Detroit Red Wings #1 goalie Jimmy Howard hasn't had his best season, the team has lost 6 of its last 10 games, with 2 of those being shootouts. The added pressure of the team dropping out of the playoff places made winning last night's game vital. According to  NHL.com , Howard sought advice from former Wings Goalie Chris Osgood, Coach Jim Bedard and Jedi Master Yoda  in his attempt to end the slump. Whatever that advice was, it worked. Howard made 22 saves including breakaways and a mis-hit penalty shot after Bobby Butler was tripped by Jakub Kindl . Helping the Wings to beat the Nashville Predators 3-0. Howard, braced for action.  Howard's performance was so good last night that he earned the 1st star of the game. The two points earned see the Wings jump back into that last playoff place although things are still very tight with a few teams still in contention. Henrik Zetterberg , Johan Franzen and Justin Abdelkader scored for the Wings and new boy Dann...

The unthinkable has happened. The Detroit Red Wings are 9th in the Western Conference.  It wasn't the Phoenix Coyotes but the Dallas Stars that have taken their place, those sneaky Texans have continued their quiet march up the table. The 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks sealed the deal. Although. Dallas, Detroit and the Columbus Blue Jackets are all tied on 45 points, the Stars have won more in regulation, giving them the edge. Columbus on the other hand, have played more games; earning them the 10th spot.  Detroit take on the Nashville Predators tonight. Make or break...

The Detroit Red Wings have 9 games left in the regular season. The Question that GM Ken Holland and Coach Mike Babcock is does the team have enough left in the tank to ensure that it can hang on to a playoff place? Let's look at the remaining games from the point of view of a (slightly) biased Wings fan. 11/04/13 San Jose Sharks - Home. The Wings are currently 1-1-0 against the Sharks and their only win was a shootout in February. The Sharks have made a lot of trades leading up the closure of the window last week and the Wings will need to pick apart any of the inconsistencies that come with unfamiliar players and lines playing together. 12/04/13 Chicago Blackhawks - Road Despite Chicago's dominance of all things Western, the Wings have taken 2 points from their three games having lost 2 in overtime. Wings' record against the Hawks is currently 0-1-2 and the sole regulation loss was a 7-1 thumping on March 31st. There's a score to be settled but with 2 roa...

In news that will surprise nobody, there'll be no extended summer holiday period for the Chicago Blackhawks , their 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators at the United Centre last night sealed the first playoff spot for the Western. Goals by Toews , Saad , Shaw , Bickell and Kane did the job for the Hawks. Although Legwand , Spaling and Weber all netted for the Preds, they continued Nashville's season-long tradition of losing to Chicago. Nashville are sat 13th in the conference and while mathematically they have a chance of a playoff spot, it would take a huge stroke of luck to be in with a chance of reaching the cup. At the other end of the conference, the Detroit Red Wings made life more difficult by losing 1-0 to St. Louis Blues at the Joe Louis. Blues Chris Porter  scored the only goal in what was a very tight game. The Wings' offense out-shot the Blues but were unable to find the back of the net. Goalies Brian Elliot and Jimmy Howard took the 1st and 2nd star...

New format, last time took ages. Here's a round up of the scores from the last 7 days. Anaheim Ducks Wins Sharks 5-3 Blackhawks 4-2 Losses Red Wings 5-1 Red Wings 2-1 Calgary Flames Wins Blues 3-2 Losses Stars 4-3 Predators 5-3 Blue Jackets 5-1 Chicago Blackhawks Wins Avalanche 5-2 Losses Ducks 4-2 . Colorado Avalanche Wins Stars 4-3 Losses Blackhawks 5-2 Stars 5-2 Canucks 3-2 Columbus Blue Jackets Wins Predators 4-3 Flames 5-1 Losses Predators 5-2 Dallas Stars Wins Flames 4-3 Kings 2-0 Avalanche 5-2 Losses Avalanche 4-3 Detroit Red Wings Wins Ducks 5-1 Ducks 2-1 Losses Wild 4-2 Edmonton Oilers Wins Losses Sharks 4-3 Blues 3-0 Los Angeles Kings Wins Coyotes 4-0 Coyotes 3-2 Losses Stars 2-0 Canucks 1-0 Minnesota Wild Wins Canucks 3-1 Red Wings 4-2 Sharks 2-0 Losses Nashville Predators Wins Flames 5-3 Bl...