Top Line: Lafontaine ready to shake up Sabres; Brodeur talks Sochi; more links
Could new Hockey Ops president Pat LaFontaine deal Sabres goalie Ryan Miller without a GM in place? (Bill Wippert/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:
• Would Pat Lafontaine deal Ryan Miller before hiring a new GM? The Hotstove boys discussed that possibility, and dished on trade talks involving the Blackhawks, Oilers, Panthers and Canucks.
• If only Martin Brodeurcould be less enigmatic about his feelings regarding playing for Canada in Sochi...
• The Ottawa Senators have been a major disappointment through the early going, but a week of doing this has them finally moving in the right direction.
• One of the NHL's signature concepts was born like so many of history's greatest ideas...over a couple of beers.
• Chris Stewart is really carrying a grudge against his former teammates in Colorado. Might want to go ahead and set the DVR for the next Blues/Avs game.
• It's not quite on the level of Daryl Sydor crawling to the net to block a shot, but you have to admire Nikolai Khabibulin's guts on this play.
• Khabby might be out of the lineup for some time after hurting himself making the original save.
• This guy looks like the early leader in the "worst free-agent signing of the summer" category, doesn't he?
• Kevin Allen says the Predators need to address the loss of Pekka Rinne before it's too late to salvage this season.
• Short-staffed at center, the Maple Leafs hit the trade market looking for someone to fill the void. They managed to land a former first rounder from the Ducks.
• Maybe that deal will work out a little better for the Leafs than the one where they sent the NHL's leading goal scorer to the Blues.
• Adrian Dater says the honeymoon is over in Denver, where the Avs have lost three straight and are starting to look a lot like the team that sucked the life out of fans last season.
• There's good news for Team Canada, and there's really, really bad news.
• Aaron Portzline explains why hockey has become a secondary concern for Columbus forward Nick Foligno.
• Ted Nolan has John Scotton a short leash, but it didn't stop the enforcer from taking a cheap shot after the game. Pretty funny listening to Scott rip a guy who sees more action most periods than he will in a month.
• You think Buffalo's fans were happy with last week's shakeup? Wait'll you hear what the Sabres' alumni had to say.
• Larry Brooks does his best to play matchmaker between the Sabres and Neil Smith, and quick hits America's forwards for Sochi, Marian Gaborik and the big mistake made by both the Rangers and Islanders.
• One reason why Pittsburgh's offense has gone quiet? Evgeni Malkin has taken nine shots since Halloween.
• Ed Willes says it would only benefit the Canucks to repair the rift with the most influential figure in franchise history.
• Boston's inconsistent play in the early going is easy to explain, says Steve Conroy.
Steve Ott