Hello my fellow esteemed brethren of ILWT. Today I have noticed a certain topic trend in the hockey related media and no...it's not about Slovakia topping team Canada in the IIHF World Championships. ( 50% Slovak and proud here) So of course I am hinting at the ever so informative and cordial John Tortorella and his penchant for giving one heck of a post game press conference. Is it big news? Yes. Should it be? I don't think so. BUT. I do believe if Mr. Tortorella wants to play games with and in his post game sessions then he should expect some competition from his opponents in the "game". His opponents being the members of the hockey media who are privileged enough to attend and question the coach in person. I find the media is letting Torts win at his own game. Clearly the man wants to intimidate the media to the point where they ask as few questions as possible or none at all. So hockey media....please do just the opposite...barrage Mr. Tortorella with as many questions as humanly possible. Ask him questions before he reaches the podium...ask him questions at the podium...ask him questions as he flees the podium. Ask him about his time with Tampa Bay. Ask him about Sean Avery. Ask him about this series. Ask him about the last series. Ask him about how long it takes him to get ready for work in the morning. Ask him about his favorite food...favorite color...and favorite animal. Ask him which member of The Beatles he identifies with the most. You get the picture. So since we have a couple of days till the next game and the next game of a press conference...WHAT WOULD YOU ASK JOHN TORTORELLA AT THE NEXT POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE?

Kavell Conner has been on the injury list as both probable and questionable for the last two weeks with foot/knee problems. The last two games he managed 3 or fewer total tackles and looked confused and out of step in those games. Is Kavell Conner broken? Should he be playing? Anyone have any insider information?

Please let me start off by saying this is merely a friendly good natured and spirited comparison between our own Mr. Ilya Kovalchuk and his obvious or in this case...not so obvious peers within the NHL. The specific area of this comparative effort are the total games played to date by Ilya : (23) and his point total thereafter (10) : 4 goals/6 assists. So these figures will set the standard for the comparison and the results (players with identical stats through 23 games or more) will represent Ilya's statistical peers.

1. Matt D'Agostini (St. Louis Blues) 24 games played 10 points (6 goals/4 assists) Bio: A 23 year old Canadian third line checking type player with no more than 12 goals ever scored per season in his NHL career.
   
2. Radek Dvorak (Florida Panthers) 23 games played 10 points (5 goals/5 assists) Bio: A 33 year old Czech right wing who has some scoring touch that has not been seen since his 67 point year in 2000-2001 with the Rangers.
3. Jason Blake (Anaheim Ducks) 26 games played 10 points (5 goals/5 assists) Bio: A 37 year old U.S. born veteran who has seen his best years gone by but still offers experience on and off the ice.
4. Tyler Kennedy (Pittsburgh Penguins) 25 games played 10 points (4 goals/6 assists) Bio: A 24 year old Canadian solid centermen with a good two way game.
5. Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins) 23 games played 10 points (4 goals/6 assists) Bio: A 33 year old Slovak monster (in size and game) defensemen year in and out.
6. Dainius Zubrus (New Jersey Devils) 24 games played 10 points (3 goals/7assists) Bio: A 32 year old Lithuanian brute of a man with a surprising soft scoring touch.
7. Sean Bergenheim (Tampa Bay Lightning) 25 games played (4 goals/6 assists) Bio: A 26 year old Finnish wing with modest yet steady offensive numbers.
8. Andy Greene (New Jersey Devils) 24 games played (2 goals/8 assists) Bio:A 28 year old U.S. born somewhat offensive defensemen.
9. Jason Chimera (Washington Capitals) 26 games played (4 goals/6 assists) Bio: A 31 year old Canadian wing who had a personal best 36 point NHL season with Columbus in 2006-2007.
10. Sean Avery (New York Rangers) 26 games (1 goal/9 assists) Bio: A 30 year old Canadian wing who holds the title of: "only NHL player to pose for his league headshot photo wearing blue tinted glasses."

Well there it is...10 players with 10 points...all with at least 23 games played this season. I will leave the contrast aspect of this comparison to you the ILWT readers. Any major surprises? Does Ilya Kovalchuk belong in this group of players? Why or why not? Does the fact Sean Avery is on this list make you seasick?

Suspicious characters lurking in the dark...boats with more water in them than around them...airplane pilots on first name basis with bartenders and David Buehler as the Dallas Cowboys primary field goal/extra point kicker in 2010/11. These things make me nervous. ( in no particular order.) Don't get me wrong...I love the guy for his long leg on kick offs and his abundant swagger for attempting tackles on returns BUT...using him on extra point/field goal attempts seems comparable to choosing a shotgun for opening letters. I know roster spots are few and far between but I feel this was and is an obvious weakness for the team and needs serious attention.

  I don't know about the rest of you but I am completely sick of this entire Kovalchuk "sweepstakes" and to be honest I hope he signs with the KHL. That's right...I said it....the KHL. (Ok..deep breath....for both me the author and you the reader...now let us continue.) Yes the man is a fantastic hockey talent...we can all agree on that very fact. As a pure individual player he would be an asset to any team and to a franchise he would be valuable resource...filling seats and selling jerseys throughout the league. Although on the other hand...he has now begun to represent a figure that is very bad for our beloved sport of hockey. The over entitled soon to be overpaid hockey superstar. Now many of you may not be familiar with this "figure" because out of all the major sports it seems we  (professional hockey) have had some degree of success in negating these types. More so...and more importantly...I believe we see less of this "figure" in our sport because of what hockey players tend to represent as a whole. That of course being a solid foundation in discipline, team mentality, mental/physical toughness....and an overall blue collar work ethic. Of course...this is a business and I do realize it as such...but first and foremost it is a sport...and it's our sport. I for one do not want to see the NHL begin to resemble the NBA or the MLB...and I will leave it at that. So now back to Mr. Kovalchuk...the player  we all saw come here in a blockbuster trade...who then told us he was here to win a Stanley Cup and then in turn gave forth the effort and and skill (for the most part) that seemed to prove his merit. Until....now. Where has that individual gone? Where has the pride of the "team" concept and desire to win a Stanley Cup vanished to? These things have been replaced by numbers...and ridiculous ones at that. Should a players skill dictate his salary? Yes...of course it should...but where is our sport headed when a player can only be satisfied with 10 million dollars a year? Is this for the love of the game? I think not. So if Ilya Kovalchuk does in fact return to the New Jersey Devils I will find it hard to cheer for him...plain and simple. That opinion may have little bearing on you the reader...but think of the various current NJ Devil players that may share the very same sentiments that I do.

I am personally beginning to find the entire Kovalchuk "sweepstakes" detrimental to the New Jersey Devils organization as a whole. To keep it simple..yes..he is a talented individual hockey player. Would I want him on the team? Of course. Do I want to tarnish the blue collar tradition that this franchise has earned by paying a "new" team member an exorbitant amount of money? No. Where do your opinions you fall on this matter?

First of all...congrats to the Chicago Blackhawks (and specifically John Madden...my goodness I miss you...you never call or write..sigh) for the winning of Lord Stanley's cup and an overall impressive post season run. That much we cannot argue...the Chicago Blackhawks deserved/earned and were rightly presented the cup last eve...and on an individual level Jonathan Toews was deemed the playoffs most valuable player and awarded the Conn Smythe trophy. This prize...unlike the cup itself...leaves some room for argument and examination. So playing devil's advocate (no pun intended)...I was curious to think what we here at ILWT think of this selection. In my opinion it was between Jonathan Toews and Danny Briere...so the selection of Toews was not out of sorts and he was the deserving recipient. Although as per most years there is/was a slight favoring of selecting the Conn Smythe awardee from the winning cup team. I believe this year became a "tie goes to the runner" type of decision between Toews and Briere and I think a valid argument can be made for Briere being more valuable to his team's success than Toews in the post season if you look at numbers alone. As I do not want to turn this into a lengthy post examining stats of various players contributions etc etc...I simply ask you the reader: Who deserved the Conn Smythe trophy and why?

Whether our beloved NJ Devils are in our out of the playoffs and assuming you are a "hockey" fan and just not a "Devils" fan....who else are you rooting for in the Eastern and Western conferences?  Again this is who you are rooting for and perhaps why....not who you think will win.  Thanks.

I am rooting for:

East: Toss up between Buffalo (how can you not appreciate Ryan Miller and Lindy Ruff?) and Boston (Claude Julien we still love you)

West: Phoenix (Feel good story of the year...a team on the brink  of disaster that returns to almost capture the President's trophy...oh yeah...and they have Shane Doan. If you don't like Shane Doan you probably hate yourself too.)

NOTE: Changed the original post a bit. The idea was to find out what teams we as common Devils fans admire not who we are/will root for if or when the Devils are eliminated.