A must read by Canada's best on his favorite tournament.

Larry Brooks reports:

"Herb Brooks had his Smurfs. Tortorella is going to have his Hobbit -- the Norwegian Hobbit, Mats Zuccarello-Aasen, the diminutive 22-year-old winger with world-class skill, who will sign a free agent contract with the Blueshirts at the conclusion of the next month's World Championships.

Regulations included in the NHL's newly adopted transfer agreement with the Swedish Elite League prohibit the signing of free agents until then, so no contract has been signed or registered. News of the pending agreement broke on Friday after Zuccarello-Aasen's representatives at Newport Sports sent a letter to his other suitors, including Detroit, Toronto, Colorado, Chicago and Boston, thanking them for their interest.

The Blueshirts did not get a Dear John (dear John? uh, not quite) or Dear Slats letter.

The 5-foot-7, 160-pound Oslo native, who attracted serious attention following his performance in the Olympics, comes highly recommended to the Rangers by Markus Naslund, his teammate with Modo Hockey this season. Zuccarello-Aasen, scouted at the Vancouver Games by GM Glen Sather, led the SEL in scoring while capturing the league's MVP award.

Two years ago, the Blueshirts signed Swedish free agent Andreas Jamtin. Last year it was Finnish defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen. Neither was able to create enough of an impression to crack the Rangers' roster. Zuccarello-Aasen, a brilliant skater, will have to surmount the challenge of adapting his game to the smaller rinks of the far more physical NHL.

If he's able to do that, the greater challenge would then fall to Blueshirts' equipment manager Acacio Marques, who would then have to figure out how to sew the player's name on the back of his uniform."

Loved this kid in the Olympics. Next-gen St. Louis?

Congrats to Alex Ovechkin, voted by his Russian peers as the top Russian in the NHL for the 5th straight year (Kharlamov Trophy).

"By this measurement Ovechkin scored 11.8% of the goals in the games in which he participated, a staggering number. Even among the rarefied air of the 500 goal club, Ovechkin separates himself..."

A compilation of some of the Great 8's greatest hits.

NFL players could learn a lot from watching Olympic hockey.

For that matter, so could nearly any other pro sports' players.

A testimonial from Pro Football Talk.

Steinz strikes again. Recaps the Boss' interview on EITM Weds morning.

Or more precisely, with the Man, over at Kukla's.

Nicely done, J.P.

There is no proof that the NHL schedule was designed to benefit the Stanley Cup champions, but the Penguins have been playing advantageous hands the past few weeks.

A game Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena marked the fourth of eight previous contests in which a rested Penguins squad faced an opponent that played the previous night.

In fact, according to FSN Pittsburgh, seven of the Penguins' past 12 games have come against opponents that either played the previous night or traveled a great distance the day before. The Penguins were 5-0-1 in those contests.

"It's just the nature of this year's schedule," coach Dan Bylsma said.

... the Penguins will not have to leave Pittsburgh for three of the 11 remaining times they are scheduled to play on consecutive nights.

The Boss, after speaking to AO yesterday. Great stuff.

Ted on Caps vs. Red Wings.

Wowza.

h/t to Paul at Kukla's Korner.

Dmitry Chesnokov does it again. His latest, in the Examiner, has excerpts from an interview with Jaromir Jagr.