http://shorthandedbreakaway.com Hockey news, rumors, and insight. Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:05:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en When the Thrashers traded Ilya Kovalchuk on February 4 to the New Jersey Devils for RW Niclas Bergfors, D Johnny Oduya, F Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick, many thought Thrashers' GM Waddell was giving up on the season. A few days later, Waddell traded  away underachieving and oft-injured goalie ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2010/03/06/pre-deadline-deals-pay-off-for-thrashers/ First of all, let me just say that the two-week Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver had some of the most exciting hockey games I have ever seen. With that being said, the NHL doesn't belong in the Olympics. In 1980, the Miracle on Ice took place with players that had been ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2010/03/06/do-nhlers-really-belong-in-the-olympics/ The Washington Capitals gained over $2 million in cap space today when they traded captain Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurcina to Columbus for forward Jason Chimera. Clark is in the middle of a three year deal with an annual cap hit of $2.633 million while Jurcina's one-year, $1.375 million ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/12/28/washington-sheds-salary-in-deal-with-columbus/ The NHL continues to make strides in bringing more exclusive content online as they launched the new NHL.com VideoCenter today that features HD video and three new channels. "NHL.com is the first place fans look to see the best game highlights, live and feature videos, and original programming focused on the ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/12/21/nhl-upgrades-online-videocenter/ The debate continues to rage about changing the NHL points system to include three points for a win, two points for an overtime win, and one point for an overtime loss. Well, an easier way to solve everything would be to switch to a strict wins/losses system. Revolutionary, I know. "We should reward ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/12/07/nhl-should-get-rid-of-points-system/ When the Leafs traded mostly underachieving forward Jiri Tlusty to Carolina today, they were able to shed a little salary (he was making $62,500 in the AHL with a $855,000 cap hit in the NHL), but they were also able to build for the future by acquiring 18-year-old power forward ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/12/03/burke-does-it-again-leafs-trade-tlusty-for-2009-first-rounder/ With Sergei Gonchar expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist, the Penguins will be without their top defenseman for an extended period of time for the second straight season. Last season, Gonchar missed the first 56 games because of a shoulder injury. During that time, the Penguins went 27-24-5 ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/10/21/how-much-will-penguins-faulter-with-no-gonchar/ The ECHL opened the 2009-10 season with strong numbers on opening weekend as almost 100,000 fans attended 21 games, including more than 20,000 fans for Toledo's opening three-game weekend. Toledo, which returns to the ECHL this year as the Walleye, saw an average of 6,888 fans per game -- or about ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/10/19/echl-has-strong-opening-weekend/ The Phoenix Coyotes are hoping a free ticket promotion will help attract more fans this season by instituting a "We Win, You Win" promotion that will give away free tickets if the team wins on select nights this season. The Coyotes sold out their home opener thanks to a $25 ticket ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/10/16/coyotes-hope-free-ticket-promotion-will-attract-fans/ This year, the NHL Network is carrying 75 live games. That's great, but that means whenever a game is on NHL Network, it is not carried on the Center Ice package or GameCenter Live on NHL.com. This hurts many Center Ice and GameCenter Live subscribers who bought those packages primarily to ... http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/10/15/nhl-network-hurting-center-ice-subscribers/