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Capitals Punishment: Tonight’s Capitals-Bruins game is the 141st Game 7 in NHL history. Washington has been less than stellar in these situations, posting a 2-7 record. Of the 22 all-time NHL franchises with at least five Game 7 appearances, only the Sabres (1-6) and Coyotes (0-5) are worse.

No Doubting Thomas: If Tim Thomas can hold the Capitals off the scoreboard, he will become the first goalie in NHL history to record three Game 7 shutouts. Only two other goalies have registered two such shutouts (Patrick Roy and Curtis Joseph). Thomas shut out the Lightning and Canucks in Game 7s last season.

Flyers-Penguins series: The Flyers were decidedly better -- the 5-1-in-Game-6 kind of better. That's what you need to know. They will keep playing, the Penguins go home. Also worth knowing: Claude Giroux earned first-round Conn Smythe honors.

Bruins-Capitals: Tim Thomas is back. But so is Alex Ovechkin. Man, don't you love Game 7's?

Kings-Canucks: Goaltender battles can be entertaining too, especially those that pit two guys against each other who have been working a cage match since they were wee lads. But after the Kings clobbered the Canucks in OT, count on Jonathan Quick to be the favorite as the second-round Conn Smythe winner.

Oh, this is why we traded for that guy: Martin Havlat missed half the season after coming over last summer in a trade from Minnesota. It's not a deal (for Dany Heatley) that paid dividends early on for the Sharks. But with 28 points in his last 26 playoff games entering these playoffs, the point of it all was for San Jose to gain from his habit of rising to the occasion in the postseason. Um, good start. Havlat's two goals, including 3:34 into double overtime, led San Jose to a 3-2 Game 1 win in St Louis, fortifying his playoff reputation. -- Pierre LeBrun

The night of the Martins: Martin Hanzal did the trick as the Coyotes clipped the Blackhawks 3-2 in OT. Mike Smith stood on his head -- parlance for "he played well" -- as the higher-seeded Coyotes rolled at home. Dog days are not over, thank you very much, Florence.

In other OT news ... The Bruins struck quickly in OT, Chris Kelly firing home the winner with the Zamboni sauce still drying. Tim Thomas was sold for the B's in a duel with Braden Holtby, whom Thomas praised. Good to see Thomas return to pumping tires again.

Meanwhile, in Gotham: The Rangers, completely disregarding talk that they might be upset, wiped the rink with the Senators in a 4-2 win. Score was closer than the game indicated, blah-blah-blah. Don't be surprised if the Senators bounce back with a big game Saturday night. The NHL playoffs are funny like that.

We watch the games, so you don't have to. And then we write stuff down about them. So you don't have to.

Sunday
--Alex Ovechkin tapes his stick one strand at a time, like the rest of us. He has scored nine goals in his last seven games and dates a Russian tennis player, not like the rest of us.
--Say it with me now: Malkin-wins! Malkin-wins! (To the tune of "Malkovich! Malkovich!" from "Being John Malkovich.")
--Panthers fans showed their excitement at potentially having the No. 3 seed in the playoffs by staying away in droves from a loss to the Islanders. Rats!
--Edmonton beat Columbus in a battle of the league's two most brutal teams. It's OK for a man to cry, Nail Yakupov.
--How about those Predators! Nashville-New York Stanley Cup finals. "I'm a little bit country..." "...and I'm a little bit rock 'n' roll." No one appreciates a good Donnie and Marie Osmond reference anymore.
--Tiger Woods. There, that ought to help our Google results.
--What would the playoffs look like if they started today? Glad you asked. Click it.
--Solidifying: Ottawa. Fading: Calgary, Winnipeg. Too close to call: Buffalo, Washington, Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Jose, Colorado, margarine vs. butter.

Saturday
--The Rangers beat the Leafs in a shootout to take first overall in the NHL for one night (yes, technically, smarty pants, they were tied in points with St. Louis). Needing the shootout to beat the Leafs and their beachball goaltending should be of grave concern to Rangers fans the world over.
--Hey, you are Tim Thomas. That commercial provides endless material. Anyway, Thomas stood on his head, his arm, his legs, etc., while helping his Bruins continue their rebound with a big win in Los Angeles. Zdeno Chara played in game No. 1,000. Boy, you've got to think Mike Milbury is satisfied with how that trade worked out.
--So, I'm working Saturday night, getting ready to write the headline that the Wings stink after a loss to the Hurricanes. Next thing I know, they've scored four straight goals and have ended their six-game losing streak. It was Nicklas Lidstrom's first game back from injury. Considering Lidstrom's pending retirement, sell your Wings stock.
--Let's play word association. Antti Niemi -- a stone wall. Joe Thornton -- a tall man with curly hair who likes to help others. San Jose Sharks -- improving their playoff chances while making sportswriters stay up so late that they miss the all-you-can-eat breakfast bar at IHOP. For example.

If you spent too much time celebrating St. Patrick's Day or cursing your bracket, that's OK. We forgive you. Just don't let it happen again. Here's what you missed in the NHL over the weekend:

Sunday
-- That Scott Hartnell did something annoying again. And he also scored a key goal, firing home a blast from the deep slot to give the Flyers a last-second OT win over the Penguins. The heartless Hartnell snapped the Penguins' impressive winning streak. But, really, I'm still laughing at his "Suck it, Phaneuf" line from the All-Star Game and subsequent beatdown. Classic.
-- Nifty note from Elias on the goal: Scott Hartnell scored with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime to earn the Flyers a 3-2 win over the Penguins and end Pittsburgh's 11-game winning streak. It was the latest regular-season overtime goal in Flyers history and only the third overtime goal at the 4:59 mark in an NHL game over the past five seasons. Remarkably, the two other instances happened on the same day, March 20, 2010, with Carolina's Jamie McBain (at Pittsburgh) and Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg (at Vancouver) scoring the last-second game-winning goals.
-- The Blackhawks got a pair of goals from checker Andrew Shaw -- his assignment was Alex Ovechkin -- in a big win over the Capitals. The Caps better rally or else they face an offseason in a glass case of emotion.
-- Self-referential alert: Love me this playoffs matchups page of ours.
-- Outside looking in, with a shot: Winnipeg, Buffalo, Carolina; San Jose, Los Angeles, Calgary. Wait, Carolina? That can't be right.

Saturday
-- Dude named Sidney Crosby had three assists in the Penguins' win over the Devils. New guy, I think. Has good upside. Must have called him up from Wilkes-Barre or something. Hmph. I'll get back to you with more on this one.
-- Tim Thomas made a save in the shootout, Ilya Bryzgalov didn't. And that's the difference between a win and a loss in today's NHL. But you didn't go to the fridge while it was being decided, did you?
-- Despite the return of Ryan Callahan and Michael Del Zotto, the Rangers lost at home to the Avalanche. Those pesky Avs temporarily climbed into seventh in the Western Conference (they are eighth as of Monday).
-- The Blues beat up on the Bolts. By the way, the Blues have locked up a playoff spot and are No. 1 in the league. If you predicted that in September, your medication is better than mine.

A struggling Tim Thomas will try to turn things around against the Lightning when the Bruins face Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

1. More questions in Columbus

The Columbus Blue Jackets have set the hockey world buzzing by their sudden decision to reverse their plan and listen to offers for captain Rick Nash. But like many things connected to this franchise, not sure of the logic involved. Obviously, no discussion of a possible move for the franchise player comes without Nash’s significant involvement. He has reportedly provided a list of teams to which he would agree to waive his no-movement clause and be traded.

But if I’m ownership, is this the best path for a franchise that has consistently taken the road to ruin? More specifically, is GM Scott Howson, the architect of by far the worst team in the NHL, the guy you want making what would be the most significant move in franchise history?

Wasn’t it Howson who set this franchise on its current course? Wasn’t it Howson who signed defenseman James Wisniewski to a lavish six-year deal with an annual cap hit of $5.5 million? Winsiewski was suspended through the start of the season, has been hurt and in general is a bust with four goals and 21 points. Wasn’t it Howson who had his pocket picked by Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren, who somehow unloaded Jeff Carter and Carter’s 11-year, $58 million contract on Columbus for former top-10 draft pick Jakub Voracek, a first-round pick who the Flyers turned into rookie of the year candidate Sean Couturier and a third-round pick?

Howson needed to do a better job of determining how Carter might react to this deal. He clearly underestimated the impact on Carter of moving from a contender in Philadelphia to a perpetual bottom-feeder, and the deal has turned out to be a disaster, so much so that Howson is now trying desperately to trade Carter.

This brings us back to Nash. Clearly Nash sees what most people see, a team that is light-years away from being anything approaching a contender. Who could blame him if he decides this is a good time to part company?

What remains puzzling is ownership allowing Howson to continue to have his hand on the tiller of this sudden rebuild, a rebuild necessitated, in large part, by Howson’s own failings. If, as some have suggested, a potential Nash deal means Howson will remain as GM, it is clear the problems are indeed from the top on down in Columbus. If ownership takes what would be a logical course and looks for someone else to try to salvage this woebegone franchise, why wouldn’t ownership insist that the new GM handle the trading of Nash -- something that now seems inevitable whether it’s by the trade deadline or at the June draft in Pittsburgh? As always, more questions than answers from a team that has yet to win its first postseason game.

2. Thomas' political statements

Just wondering when exactly Boston netminder Tim Thomas went from being an inspiring rags-to-riches story to being an insufferable megalomaniac?

We’re all about free speech, but Thomas’s interpretation of it leaves a lot to be desired, and you have to wonder about the toll it is and will continue to take on the tightly knit Bruins locker room.

We didn’t like Thomas’ snub of the White House shortly before the All-Star break, not because he’s not entitled to his own political viewpoints -- he is -- but because of how it reflected on him as a teammate. Thomas’ refusal to attend stole the spotlight away from what has long been a pretty apolitical ritual for many professional sports teams. Fair enough. But then to refuse to answer virtually any questions about it was off-putting.

Then Thomas made reference to Catholicism on his Facebook page, presumably in reference to new laws being proposed by the Barack Obama administration regarding health care payments and birth control. But he refuses to discuss those comments, insisting that his private life is separate from his hockey life and never the twain shall meet.

Nice sentiment, perhaps, but hardly one based in reality.

We have always found Thomas to be thoughtful, and he represents an inspiring story of never giving up on your dreams. But the notion that he refuses to acknowledge that his actions and statements delivered on the public stage about issues beyond hockey are news and are part of the story of the Boston Bruins can’t be chalked up to naiveté.

Rather one can only surmise this stems from some sort of grand conceit that Thomas makes up his rules about freedom of speech and how they’re going to be enforced. When anyone asks about his postings, actions off the ice or political beliefs, Thomas shuts down the interview, as he did recently with a smug, "peace out."

That’s not freedom of speech, that’s arrogance, the kind of conceit born of having proven people wrong by winning a Stanley Cup, a playoff MVP award and a Vezina Trophy within the last eight months.

One of the things that impressed us about the Bruins’ march last spring to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1972 was the closeness in that dressing room, the absolute lack of ego from Thomas on out. This is a team that has been battle-tested by significant adversity: the loss of Marc Savard, the seminal loss to Philadelphia in the second round in 2010 and the rebound from a 2-0 series deficit against Montreal in the first round in 2011.

So maybe this is a storm that blows over, a tempest in a Tea Party if you will. But maybe not. The Bruins have been pretty ordinary since the White House fiasco and are just 4-5-0 in their past nine games. They have been rocked by an ordinary Buffalo team and humbled by the conference-leading New York Rangers and have fallen out of the hunt for the top seed in the conference. Wednesday, they blew a 3-1 lead against Montreal, although they did win in a shootout.

Whether there is a line to be drawn from the team’s ordinary play and the actions of Thomas is certainly open to debate. Coach Claude Julien and Thomas’ teammates have had to answer questions about the issues and the perception that Thomas’ behavior has an impact on team chemistry. And fair or not, those questions will linger until the team’s play proves that it’s not an issue -- whenever that might be.

3. Divisions not made equally

One of the reasons to pine for realignment of some form is the situation that is developing in both conferences in which a team is going to end up winning the division and "earning" home-ice advantage in the first round when a handful of other teams with more points than those division winners will finish with a lower seed or possibly miss the playoffs altogether.

The situation with the Southeast and Pacific Divisions sets up the rather awkward dynamic in which finishing sixth is actually preferable to finishing in fifth place or even in fourth place, given the toughness of those matchups in both conferences.

If you’re the Chicago Blackhawks, for instance, maybe sliding out of the fray in the Central Division will actually be a bonus come playoff time. Who would you rather play in the first round? St. Louis, Nashville and Detroit represent three of the top four teams in the conference in terms of point totals (Vancouver is the other). Two of the top four teams in the Central seem destined to play each other in the first round, with the fourth and fifth seeds (right now it would be Nashville and St. Louis). The Blackhawks, by virtue of going winless in nine straight games (0-8-1), have fallen out of that pack. But if they finish sixth, which is where they sit on Thursday, a first-round matchup against San Jose or Los Angeles, if the Kings could ever score enough goals to overtake the Sharks at the top of the Pacific Division, is much preferred, with all due respect to the Sharks and Kings.

In the East it’s even more pronounced with the surprising Florida Panthers still holding onto the Southeast Division lead despite being pounded 6-2 by Ottawa in South Florida Wednesday night. Right now, the Panthers would be the only Southeast Division team to make the playoffs and, in terms of points, they actually have the seventh-highest points total in the conference.

Like the Central, the Atlantic Division looks to send four teams to the postseason. With the Rangers comfortably in first, it looks like two of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New Jersey will face off in the first round, as the three teams are currently separated by one point. Now, with all due respect to the Panthers, who have not been to the postseason since 2000 and are one of the feel-good stories of the season, if you’re Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or New Jersey, dropping to sixth and playing the Cats in the first round looks like a much better way to start off the playoff tournament than in a grueling Atlantic Division grudge-fest.

4. Caps' Knuble deserves better

This season may not have produced many highlight moments for veteran forward Mike Knuble, but it sure is sad to see the hard-as-nails winger as a regular healthy scratch for the slumping Washington Capitals. It also raises significant issues about just what is going on in Washington with a team that has fallen quickly out of the NHL limelight and is flirting with missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

We don’t presume to second-guess rookie NHL head coach Dale Hunter, although it sure was a curious situation Monday, when he misled local writers by suggesting that the team wasn’t going to call up a goaltender even though Tomas Vokoun was laid low with the flu. Then Braden Holtby was secreted into town and given a start ahead of Michal Neuvirth. Hunter’s explanation made little sense, citing Neuvirth’s lack of experience in playing back-to-back games (he’d played in the Caps’ 3-2 loss to New York the previous afternoon). But not only had Holtby played the night before for the Caps’ AHL affiliate, he had to make the trip from Hershey, Pa., to Washington and still got the start. The move blew up in Hunter’s face as Holtby whiffed on a long, bouncing shot late in the first period and the Caps lost 5-3 to San Jose.

Like Knuble, Neuvirth has not produced the kind of numbers he’d like, but that’s the kind of coaching move that does little for a young netminder’s confidence. As for Knuble, he has just three goals and is minus-14 in 53 games but is expected to return to the lineup Friday. Still, if Hunter’s plans to coax the Caps into the postseason continue to include guys like Jay Beagle (zero goals in 16 games) or Keith Aucoin (zero goals in five games) or Joel Rechlicz (zero goals in three games) instead of Knuble, then GM George McPhee owes the classy Knuble an opportunity to play somewhere else. While McPhee told reporters Thursday he has no intention of moving Knuble, in all good conscience he should try to deal Knuble before the trade deadline. Surely there’s a playoff-bound team that could use Knuble’s presence in the corners and in front of the net, even if it’s not the Capitals.

5. Penner turns laughs into charity

We must admit we have made sport of Dustin Penner over the past few years as we have seen him respond to a big contract by, well, getting bigger and bigger. And we don’t mean in terms of his game. But kudos to the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Penner -- who has just five goals and 13 points -- for turning an embarrassing incident involving back spasms incurred while tucking into a plate of pancakes made by Penner’s wife into something positive. The Manitoba native was ridiculed after revealing how he’d managed to injure himself. But instead of becoming defensive about it, Penner hooked up with a Los Angeles area IHOP restaurant and created a charity event this week in which he served pancakes and mingled with about 75 Kings fans, raising about $3,000 for the Kings' foundation. Good on Penner. Now, if he could only find a way to impress coach Darryl Sutter, who has made the big winger a healthy scratch in recent days.

Just inscribe Henrik Lundqvist's name on the Vezina Trophy now. He’s a lock. A look at the candidates for top goaltender in the NHL at this point of the season:

1. King Henrik, New York Rangers

Leads the league with a ridiculous .941 save percentage and quite frankly merits serious Hart Trophy consideration as NHL MVP. He’s looking at his first-ever Vezina Trophy victory. And if that’s the case, that will make it five different winners in five years for the award.

2. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators

After a slow start by his lofty standards, last season’s Vezina runner-up has been lights-out in the second half of the season. And, he has faced the second-most shots in the league, 1,550 as of Wednesday morning.

3. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings

Third in the NHL in both goals-against average (1.91) and save percentage (.934), recognition of Quick’s tremendous ability is long overdue. The Kings are last in the NHL in goals per game. Where would they be without Quick?

4. Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

His play has dipped just a bit of late, having allowed three or more goals in eight of his past 12 games, although his teammates share some of the blame. Still, another rock-solid season by Thomas.

5. (tie) Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings and
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames

Howard’s recent finger injury should do nothing to change the fact that he’s worthy of Vezina consideration, as he still leads the league with 32 wins. Kiprusoff has really come on in the second half, and he’s the single biggest reason the Flames are in playoff contention. The 2006 Vezina Trophy winner has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of his past 10 starts.

Honorable mention: Mike Smith, Phoenix; Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott, St. Louis; Evgeni Nabokov, N.Y. Islanders; Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh; Roberto Luongo, Vancouver.

Here's all you need to know about the weekend's action without having to watch the pesky games. It's like CliffsNotes/Coles Notes without the gaudy bee stripes.

SUNDAY
--The Red Wings tied the record for most consecutive home wins, even without Jimmy Howard in net. They have a chance to set the record Tuesday against Dallas. Start covering the furniture with plastic because the champagne is coming out.
-- Evgeni Malkin continues to light it up, scoring a pair to give him a 5-5-10 February. El Penguinos don't need that Crosby fella.
-- Ryan Callahan made like Sam Gagner, scoring his fifth goal in three games to lead the Rangers over the Caps. The Rangers are 19-5-1 in their past 25 games. Considering the distractions his team has had this season, John Tortorella has to be a lock for the Jack Adams.
-- Jaroslav Halak earned his fifth shutout in his past 10 starts as the Blues blanked the Sharks. Oh, and as if the Blues aren't scary enough, Andy McDonald came back after sitting for 51 games as a concussed guy. Now if only someone would buy the team.
-- Corey Perry's not going anywhere, especially after firing his impressive hatter against the Woe Jackets.

SATURDAY
-- Mats Sundin's number was retired -- sorry, the Leafs are above that tradition, so that should be "honored" -- before the Leafs-Habs game. As is usually the case in Toronto, the fans got all teary-eyed about a great player they didn't appreciate when he was playing for them. Sundin did the best he could, people. Dude deserved more love after being the captain of a rodeo that had bucking broncos Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker and Travis Green.
-- Again with the Evgeni Malkin: He kept the scorekeeper busy with his five-point night in a throwback 8-5 win over the Jets. Jordan Staal came back and scored, too. Sheesh. Cribbed from Elias: Malkin's third five-point game of the season made him one of three players to score five or more points in three games in one season since 1998–99. The other two: Alex Ovechkin, in 2007–08 and Sidney Crosby, in 2009–10.
-- The Bruins beat the Predators in a shootout. Pekka Rinne made twice as many saves as Tim Thomas, but lost anyway. I don't trust Google Translate, so I'm uncertain if the Finnish Pekka complained afterward on his Facebook page about the injustice of it all.
-- Sam Gagner ends his amazing scoring streak in Ottawa. Doesn't he know most out-of-town folks have to go across the river to Gatineau to score?

Folks, just a reminder this is a rant blog, so it’s meant for rants! Too many posts asking me about trade possibilities. Keep those questions for my weekly chat on Wednesday (2 p.m. ET). Luckily, there were some good rants. Let’s take a look:

tj703: The Red Wings road play is getting beyond old at this point. Twice now in the last month they have decided when one of the super stars couldn't play against Eastern Conference bottom feeders that they should all take the night off. It is embarrassing to watch a group of proud pros give no effort whatsoever. We have been spoiled in Detroit for a long time, but for this team to be sub .500 on the road at this point in the season is inexcusable. It is great they want to play hard against the big teams, but two points is two points. The effort in Montreal and Long Island this past month was disappointing. The Cup parade won't be happening in Detroit unless they can figure out a way to play outside the Joe, they are eventually going to lose a home game and right now that streak is hiding a very average team once the wheels go up on the plane when it leaves Detroit.

My take: Well, I guess beginning the post-All-Star break in first place of the Western Conference isn’t good enough for you. Yes, Detroit’s 13-14-0 road record isn’t impressive, but neither is Chicago’s (10-9-2) nor St. Louis' (8-10-3), two divisional rivals battling the Wings for the conference lead. I have confidence the Wings will turn that trend around in the second half. I wouldn’t overreact to it. Another important factor to note is that only Calgary (28 games) has played more road games than Detroit’s 27 at this point in the Western Conference, so the Wings will spend a bit more time at home anyway in the stretch run.

bruinsYea: I am truly disappointed and disgusted with Shanahan right now. His job is hard, I know. But as a Bruins fan, I stood by his somewhat aggressive stance against the Bruins because they are a physical team, and sometimes do cross the line. But when one of our players (Horton) suffers a clear hit to the head, and nothing happens really angers me.

The Bruins' franchise has suffered so many injuries to star players (Neely, Bergeron, Savard, now Horton), I just feel like nothing is really being done to protect our players. The league sees us as the boogey man and couldn't care less.

My take: I’m not going to say Brendan Shanahan has been bang on with every decision this season; there were a couple I disagreed with. But to suggest he somehow has it in for your team in particular is ridiculous. Did you forget that Milan Lucic got nothing for running over Ryan Miller? Or that Zdeno Chara didn’t get suspended for his hit on Max Pacioretty last season? Take the blinders off!

dschust1: I have stuck by Ruff for the past several years despite the disappointment that has always come at the end of the season. Everybody has figured out our gameplan and they skate circles around us. We need a change at the helm, so I am going to say he is gone. With the profile Pegula has given the Sabres, we could get a pretty solid coach I think and not some nobody. As for other changes, I would move Derek Roy, he is a bum, and see if we can give him and something else for the big scorer the Sabres desperately need.

My take: Given that coach Lindy Ruff signed a multiyear extension last offseason (believed to be for four years), I’m not sure how he gets replaced until owner Terry Pegula really wants to eat up some dough. Mind you, if Ruff quickly gets another NHL job, the Sabres would get off the hook financially -- that’s what the Ducks are hoping with Randy Carlyle. Still, at this point, I don’t see Ruff’s firing on the horizon.

jtconline: My rant is Tim Thomas' explanation at the All Star weekend. He tried to explain it all away by saying that it was a personal thing, and not about the NHL or the Bruins, and therefore we should all let it drop. EXCUSE ME! The day at the White House was totally about celebrating the NHL and the Bruins. Thomas is the one who brought politics and his own personal views into it. And, because of that, he shouldn't get off with anything less than an apology, at least to the rest of NHL fandom if Bruin nation doesn't care, for his extremely poor judgment for raining on the celebration with his politics. Once he does this, dropping it and forgetting about it is 100 percent in order.

AND

bs32290: On the story of Tim Thomas, or rather what should be a non-story of Tim Thomas. When can we stop hearing about the White House? I love the Bruins beyond belief but it kills me to see so much attention getting put on the White House snub. A United States citizen has a right to not go where he doesn't want to and to voice his own opinion. The club knew about it for three months ahead of time, so really it should be no issue. And in other sports... for example, baseball. Tony Larussa and Albert Pujos both did not attend the White House event with their team that had won the World Series. Can we finally hear the end of this?

AND

StarZoneX: Did the others go out of their way to post comments on Facebook or the media, making a political statement about why they are not going? I know others have declined, but I don't remember them making the polarizing statements that Thomas made.

My take: Well, one answered the other here. But I will add this, and it’s what I asked Thomas last Thursday night after the All-Star fantasy draft in Ottawa: Does he not realize that by not addressing his statement in full detail with the media he’s actually dragged this out himself? He did add a bit more during his media day availability Friday but still hasn’t really elaborated to the extent that’s needed. Had he done that the day after the White House snub with the Boston writers, the story would be all but gone now. Instead, it lingers because he won’t explain why.

luke.hamagiwa: I'm all for making the ASG a great experience and getting exposure for the game. My complaint is the location. Ottawa is a great city, but by being a LA Kings fan, I can't imagine the unknown toll that travel takes on Jonathan Quick. He is more than deserving of an All-Star Game, but couldn't a more central location be nice, or couldn't we just deal away with this meaningless event.

My take: Well I remember having to travel across the continent for the 2002 NHL All-Star Game in ... Los Angeles. I guess you see my point. The game moves around from market to market. Next year, it’s in Columbus. Tell Quick he’s going to have a long flight again.

Ludlumtc: OK, its great that the Senators and Blues are relevant again thanks to some great coaching and players buying into their respective systems. But with all due respect, when will Mike Babcock get recognized as really being the best coach (or among the best) in the NHL, if not professional hockey, with a Jack Adams award? He seems to get short changed because of the DRW label and seems like he pretty much has to win 63 games to get the nod. Its a feeling of when he does get it, it'll have a lifetime achievement award feeling.

My take: He’s definitely top five in the league on my coaches’ list and I’ve been on record numerous times saying so. The thing about the Jack Adams Award is that the voters are swayed by teams that have exceeded expectations. The Wings’ expectations are sky-high every single season. It’s impossible for Babcock to exceed them. Hence, he gets little Jack Adams love. But if you’re looking for him to get that kind of national recognition, I think he definitely got it after the 2010 Winter Olympics, leading Team Canada to gold under incredible home-soil pressure.

cgraham214: I have a rant about the Washington Capitals. So many talented players yet this year they can't seem to put it together. Ovechkin is having a mediocre year and Backstrom and Green are out for weeks. Will they go back to their usual winning ways or will they continue to be a lackluster team. Do they even have a chance at the cup?

My take: I just don’t see a Cup run in them the way they’ve been inconsistent all season long. Perhaps not having the same pressure on them because most people have written them off might help come playoff time, but I don’t see it at this point.

away0921: I'm just curious, are you as sick of certain fans complaining about their team not "getting enough love" as I am? Thanks.

My take: YES!

hockey989998: Sorry LeBrun, just not a clear enough response last week on the Michalek hit on Hendricks, when you basically said "can't please everyone". Tell me why there wasn't a suspension. This isn't an argument about whether the number of games was too high or too low; Hendricks almost got his neck broken and Michalek wasn't even fined.

Yes, Shanahan has improved transparency when players ARE suspended, but he needs to go all the way and explain why players aren't disciplined as well.

My take: Agreed. That hit was worth a game or two, no question.

tofusteak49: As a Preds fan, I gotta say I'm a little upset that Columbus has been given the ASG for 2013. Really, rewarding a franchise for ineptitude by staging the ASG there? Oh, that's right -- the League did the same thing for Atlanta in 2008. I hope Nashville gets consideration for 2014. The new convention center will be open by then (modeled after Boss Hog's outhouse) and Nashville has a great party atmosphere right outside the arena doors. This could really rock -- the League needs to make this happen.

My take: My understanding is that Nashville didn’t get it for next year because the convention center would not be completed in time . NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is on record saying Nashville will one day get one and in the not-too-distant future. There won’t be an All-Star Game in 2014 because of the Olympic break, but my money would be on Nashville for 2015.

wmryan96: How about some more coverage on the future of the Coyotes? One or two articles in the last couple months on that whole mess just ain't makin' it.

More part-owners (you know what I mean by that) ought to be quoted as well as several Glendale City Council members. This will be the third go-round for them in trying to keep the franchise, having already thrown $50M in tax money into the pit to do so.

Saying there is some secret group trying to buy them off the league's hands is nothing new -- been through that charade three or four times now. There is journalism to be had, so go get it.

My take: Guess you didn’t visit our site on Saturday; check out Scott Burnside's story here.

OTTAWA -- All-Star Game MVP Marian Gaborik had planned it before puck drop.

If he scored on Rangers teammate Henrik Lundqvist, the Artem Anisimov machine-gun celebration was coming out.

"I was thinking about it before the game that if I scored on Henrik -- I wouldn’t do it any other way -- but I wanted to do against Henrik to give him a little Anisimov celebration there. I don’t think he was too happy about that," Gaborik said with a smile.

"I was laughing when he pulled it off," linemate Marian Hossa said.

"I tried to feed him towards the end of the first to get a hat trick right away," Hossa said. "Hank Lundqvist came up to me and said 'C'mon you can't feed him that much.'"

Gaborik scored two of his three goals against his Rangers netminder, making it seemingly look easy.

"It’s not easy," Gaborik said. "I was just fortunate to be lucky against him. I think he’s one of the best -- if not the best goalie in the league. But I’m glad I got a couple of goals against him."

Gaborik and Lundqvist were exchanging friendly barbs via Twitter all weekend long. Just for fun, right?

"I think I tried to get into his mind over the whole weekend," Gaborik said with a laugh. "I think it was a pretty good challenge against him but it worked out better for me."

Talk about a line, Pavel Datsyuk between the two slick Slovaks.

"With Marian, we’ve played together on international level," Gaborik said. "With Pavel, I mean, he’s one of the best. You can see the pure talent. He’s got it all."

-- Pierre LeBrun

Teammates turned opponents

It is always interesting to see teammates end up facing each other in a game like this. Given the low-key nature of the game, there are lots of opportunities for chirping.

Take Evgeni Malkin, who took a shot at Pittsburgh teammate Kris Letang for allowing him to set up an early Team Chara goal.

"Kris plays sometimes in the offensive zone, not defensive zone -- gives me a chance to score, you know. So I say thank you to him," Malkin said.

Letang shot back that he was counting on taking advantage of Malkin’s lack of defensive abilities.

"I was trying to beat him on his defensive part of the game, which doesn’t exist, so we'll see what he says about that," Letang retorted.

New York Rangers teammates Dan Girardi and Lundqvist were both victimized by Gaborik, who had three goals and an assist.

"I was obviously on the minus end of two of his goals, so that wasn’t too good," Girardi said. "He made a couple of good plays and he just had one of those games that everything was going in for him."

"That line was pretty dangerous out there," Girardi said of the Gaborik-Hossa-Datsyuk line. "Every time they came on the ice the D wanted to change."

-- Scott Burnside

Thomas gets fourth straight win

Tim Thomas arrived at All-Star Weekend under a cloud of controversy. He left with his fourth career All-Star victory.

"I’m very happy with the end result," Thomas said. "Going into it I was shooting for four [wins], but I didn’t really realize how much I wanted it until we got into it. Then my team came up big and scored a couple of goals early for me. Then I said, 'Let’s do this ... I might as well.'"

He denied local favorite Daniel Alfredsson from completing the hat trick in the third period.

"I wasn’t thinking about [Alfredsson’s] hat trick," Thomas said. "I just didn’t want the other team to get any closer, because all of a sudden, the way goals get scored in these games ... boom, boom, boom ... you could get three goals scored in a minute and a half. I didn’t want to let anybody score. It wasn’t anything against Alfie, I guess."

-- Pierre LeBrun

Behind the bench

Although this event isn’t really about the coaching, both Todd McLellan -- who coached Team Alfredsson with John Tortorella -- and Claude Julien -- whose Boston coaching staff guided Team Chara -- enjoyed the chance to get to know players they see only from the other side of the ice.

"It’s an opportunity to get to know these individuals personally," McLellan told ESPN.com. "We really appreciate the skill level they have, but we see it almost every day. There are no secrets. There’s a lot of video out there. Where they expose themselves is personally in the locker room. The way they interact with each other and they’re all gentlemen, they’re all professionals, they all carry themselves extremely well. You see their interaction with their families. For me that’s the most rewarding opportunity we get throughout the weekend."

Julien, also, could not say enough about the players involved in this year's game.

"They’re not only special players on the ice. They’re special players off the ice," Julien said. "All quality people. Even for us to be able to put our competitiveness aside and away for a weekend, and get a chance to talk to these guys individually, they’re great people. It gives you a lot more respect for the individual, especially after you get a chance to chat with them."

Most of these players get it. It's a chance to give back.

"The weekend is, first of all, it’s for the fans," Toronto Maple Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul said. "Everything we do is for the fans, the behind the scenes, the interviews, wearing a microphone during the game, if you’re going to do all that stuff, you’re not really going to expect a competitive 3-2 game. This event is about more than just the game. It’s to show the fans another side of the guys and have fun. I think everyone in the crowd today had fun. I know I had fun today wearing the microphone."

-- Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun

Campbell at plus-7

There’s not much defense in an All-Star Game, but it still was impressive to look on the score sheet and see Florida Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell at a plus-7. He finished with the most ice time (21:40) of anyone on Team Chara and assisted on Phil Kessel's goal.

"It’s one of those games where you don’t want to get behind too early," Campbell said. "Everyone is playing to be MVP, but it’s tough to get up there and battle with the forwards when they’re already at the red line when you are in your zone. It was nice playing with Zdeno Chara. That was fun."

Chara is one of the game’s biggest competitors, so Campbell didn’t want to let his captain down but said the game was about showing off skill more than anything.

"You want to compete as much as you can for the fans. But no, it’s not too intense and there’s no hitting," Campbell said. "You try to make it fun for the fans and you hope it’s close at the end. Usually it’s pretty tight and that’s when it picks up. It was fun."

--Craig Custance

GATINEAU, Quebec -- Tim Thomas would rather focus on the NHL All-Star Game, but the controversy surrounding his decision to skip the Bruins' visit Monday to the White House has followed him to Ottawa.

Following the NHL’s All-Star draft Thursday night, Thomas met briefly with the media and was asked about the reaction that followed his decision, including that of his teammates.

“They’ve given me their full and unwavering support, and I really appreciate that,” he said.

He declined to comment on another question with a firm "No comment," but paused for a long moment when he was asked whether avoiding the issue altogether only fuels the debate.

“I did address it,” he said. “Everything I said in my statement was what I believe to be the absolute truth. I don’t believe I need to revisit something I stated so clearly.”

-- Craig Custance

Datsyuk Thrilled To Be No. 1

Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk was perfectly content going last in the fantasy draft. "I want the car," he said last weekend.

But it was quite the opposite. Zdeno Chara made Datsyuk the first overall pick, bypassing teammates and fellow countrymen. Chara was going strictly on talent and production. One of the game's elite two-way players, Datsyuk has surged toward the top of the points race with 53 points in 49 games.

The honor of going first trumped winning a new car. Plus, it was a Honda, which probably wouldn't have gone over well in Detroit anyway.

"I'm just more happy. Surprised," Datsyuk told ESPN.com. "A car is a car but I want to be first, too."

He said he's excited to be reunited with former teammate Marian Hossa as well as fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin.

"I don't play with Russian for a long time, same team," he said. "Now it's a chance. Who knows? We play good and Ken Holland see, [maybe he'll] bring in a Russian guy."

-- Craig Custance

Couture Goes Last

One wouldn’t know by looking at San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture after the draft that he had gone last overall.

You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

"Being the young guy here and playing on the West Coast, I knew it was a possibility," he said.

Hey, he got a car, right?

"A lot of my friends and my brother are blowing up my phone asking if they can have the car," Couture said, laughing.

Sharks captain Joe Thornton was among the callers. We also texted Thornton after the draft to ask him for his reaction to young Mr. Couture going last.

"Love it, his family will love the new car!" Thornton told ESPN.com.

-- Pierre LeBrun

Kessel Not Last

Tyler Seguin would have been an ironic last overall pick a year after Phil Kessel was, given their forever link to The Trade.

Just don’t tell Kessel that.

"I didn’t think about that until you just said that right now,’’ Kessel insisted afterward.

Really? Not sure we believe that one.

There was no car for Kessel this year, with the Leafs sniper going 15th overall. Although he keeps insisting he doesn’t care.

"Anything would have been fine," Kessel said, shrugging. "It’s an honor to be here. It’s not a big deal at all [to go last]. It doesn’t matter."

Any Maple Leafs reference got booed mercilessly Thursday night by rival Ottawa fans, so much that Kessel was taken off guard by it.

"I didn’t realize it was that bad, to tell you truth," Kessel said of the Senators fans’ venom for the Leafs. "When we play here, there’s a lot of Leaf fans at the games ... but we’re looking to have a good time here this weekend."

-- Pierre LeBrun

That Ol' Softie Zdeno

Zdeno Chara might be among the most imposing of players in the NHL but he definitely has a soft spot or at the very least a strong sense of fair play. Even though it was obvious Chara’s counterpart and former Ottawa Senators teammate Daniel Alfredsson was trying to corner the market on Senators in the draft, Chara allowed that to happen without disrupting the natural order of things by stealing a Milan Michalek or Jason Spezza.

"I think it’s fair enough to have the team guys kind of together especially, you know, for Ottawa fans and people in Ottawa. When they could have their home team players on the same team, I think it just makes it very special for them. Obviously, I didn’t want to interfere with that, and respect that," he said.

-- Scott Burnside

Campbell Close To Home

Lots of familiar faces for Florida Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell this weekend in somewhat familiar surroundings. Campbell played his junior hockey in Ottawa, skating on the Rideau Canal during his leisure time, and he has a dozen family members either in town already or en route.

His inclusion in this All-Star weekend, his fourth All-Star appearance, reinforces Campbell’s decision to agree to a trade from Chicago, where he won a Stanley Cup, to the Florida Panthers last summer. Campbell is second in the NHL behind Erik Karlsson in scoring among defensemen and is the lone Panthers representative here. But he did hook up with former Hawks teammates Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa.

"I think you’re always worried when you move to a different team and a different city, but for myself personally, it was the best decision," Campbell said.

He noted that he is getting a chance in Florida to showcase his skills in a way that perhaps he wasn’t able to do in Chicago. Still, he was quick to reinforce his feelings about his time in Chicago and specifically playing for coach Joel Quenneville.

"I loved my time in Chicago," he said. "The organization was great, and Joel, I learned a ton from Joel about how to play the game. Now that’s the past, and [you] take a lot of good things out of Chicago and you move forward."

As for the curious route of leaving the warmth of South Florida for the chill of an Ottawa winter during the break, Campbell is OK with that.

"There’s lots of time for the beach and all that. I know the boys are having fun I’m sure somewhere wherever they are, but I’m happy to be here," Campbell said.

-- Scott Burnside

Home Game For Perry

Corey Perry is actually from Peterborough, Ontario, but he has family and friends who live here in Ottawa, so this is an NHL homecoming of sorts.

"I’ve got a lot of cousins here; my dad’s side pretty much lives in Ottawa," the reigning Hart trophy winner said after the draft. "It’s going to be a fun weekend."

-- Pierre LeBrun

Ottawa Is Living Large

No doubt the Ottawa region and the Senators would have been pumped to host the All-Star weekend, but let’s be honest, it wouldn’t have the oomph this weekend stands to have if the team had been languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings as most believed it would be.

Instead, the surprising Senators hit the break in sixth place in the conference and looking forward to the final 30 games of the regular season.

"We’re looking forward to a lot of divisional games, a lot of important hockey games, and last year at this point of the year, we didn’t have important hockey games, so we’re excited to have important hockey games coming into this part of the season," Senators center Jason Spezza said Thursday.

And the team’s play has sure made taking part in the weekend’s celebrations more palatable for him and his teammates.

"Yeah, I think so," Spezza said. "We feel like we’re here on merit and because the team’s played well. You want to be a part of something like this but it’s nice when you’re having a good year and things are going well up to this point. Our fans are excited; we’re excited about it. I think because the club’s played good hockey, everybody’s really excited about hockey right now, and this is really just icing on the cake on it at this point."

As for teammate Erik Karlsson, with whom Spezza sat before being selected by teammate Daniel Alfredsson, Spezza agreed that no one seemed to be having as much fun as the young defenseman, who leads all NHL defensemen in points with 47.

"Erik’s a great kid. He’s a real light-hearted guy. I think the more and more people get to know him, the more and more they’re going to like him. He’s a confident kid that believes in himself and he’s a heck of a hockey player and he’s a great guy in the dressing room," Spezza said.

-- Scott Burnside

Benn's Scare

Dallas Stars center Jamie Benn won’t lie. He was sweating it just a little when it was down to him and Sharks center Logan Couture. But he insisted he was also having fun with it.

"A little bit of both," Benn said after Friday night’s All-Star draft. "We knew it would come down to the wire. It doesn’t matter. We’re all here to have a good weekend, and we might as well have fun with it."

You might argue being picked second to last is the worst possible outcome because there’s no car as a prize, right?

"Well, it was a little bit of a win-win before those final two picks, either picked or get a car," Benn said, laughing. "I’m happy I got picked."

Benn was activated from the Stars' injured reserve just before the All-Star weekend. We asked him whether he put a little friendly pressure on Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk to do that.

"A little bit, yeah," Benn said, smiling. "He was nice enough to let me come here. He wanted me to come here; it’s a good experience for a young guy like me."

-- Pierre LeBrun

Kane Caught On Tape

It wouldn’t be an event without Patrick Kane making things interesting.

"That blonde’s unbelievable," Kane was caught saying on the telecast.

"It was a little blonde kid in front; that’s all I was talking about," a smiling Kane insisted afterward, in no way convincing any of the media on hand.

"I can’t believe they put that on," Kane said, knowing he was busted. "No more mic'ed up for TSN."

-- Pierre LeBrun

1. Tim Thomas

Voted in by the fans as the starting goaltender, well, one wonders if that would have actually occurred had fans known of his White House-snub intentions. Luckily for him, the All-Star Game is in the other nation’s capital across the border, so you wouldn’t think the Ottawa folks would care too much. Still, given his refusal to talk about the topic with Boston media after Thursday night’s game in Washington, the story will continue to have legs in Ottawa with the massive media assembled for the weekend. Word is Thomas will continue to refuse to talk about it, but it won’t stop the media from trying to get him to answer its questions.

2. The surprising Senators

When the season started, the All-Star hosts were predicted to be toast by the All-Star break. Not so. Paul Maclean’s men instead are the toast of the town in Canada’s capital, the league’s most surprising team of the season, sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference. With All-Stars Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek all voted in by enthusiastic, ballot-stuffing locals, it’s going to be a weekend love-in for the Sens.

3. The no-shows

Well, the best of the best aren’t quite in Ottawa, are they? Not when arguably the top three players in the world -- Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews -- won't be there. Add in Nicklas Lidstrom, Teemu Selanne, Mikko Koivu and Dustin Byfuglien and you’ve got quite the list of absentees. Will that mar the weekend? Probably not, but the absences of Crosby and Ovechkin will especially be felt. The fact that Ovechkin, suspended by the league, opted out without further punishment from the league will also continue to be a watercooler item.

4. The expiring collective bargaining agreement

As many of the game’s top players gather in one place for a few days, hard to believe some of them won’t be asked about the upcoming labor talks in their sport. Given the disagreement between the NHLPA and NHL over realignment, it’s a topic that is just beginning to take over the front and center. Labor talks are expected to begin sometime after the All-Star break in February.

5. Concussions

Whether it’s really an epidemic or not, with the game’s top player still sidelined by a concussion and a slew of other players afflicted this season, concussions will continue to generate needed debate, and the All-Star gathering provides a perfect platform for some of the game’s top players to voice their opinion/concerns on the matter.

Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun discuss Tim Thomas not going to the White House, Alex Ovechkin hitting Zbynek Michalek and the Pacific Division standings.

Burnside: Good morning, my friend. Well, no shortage of things to kick around today as we head into the final games before the All-Star break. First of all, I’m wondering what you, as a Canadian, thought of Tim Thomas not joining the Boston Bruins on their visit to the White House, citing his disapproval with how senior politicians have performed in the United States.

“This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country," Thomas said in a statement released on his Facebook page. "This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.”

Thomas, of course, is a U.S. citizen, one of just two American-born skaters from the team last spring. And the reigning Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy winner's absence was keenly felt by his team. I know team officials were disappointed at Thomas’ choice, but if ever there was a moment where free speech should have been respected, it’s as it relates to a visit to the White House. Talk about bringing the constitution to the people. But you know that free speech never plays all that well in pro hockey locker rooms, so my question for you is how you think this will play out. Thomas gets lots of leash because of who he is and how he’s played, but I wonder if this is the kind of thing that suggests Thomas thinks he’s bigger than the team, and for a team whose hopes of a repeat championship rest on the collective as opposed to the individual, Thomas’ split from his team on a very public stage bears watching. Your thoughts?

LeBrun: One of the reasons politics and sport never mesh too well is that fans escape the real world when they passionately enter the sports world. It’s about forgetting your job, the stresses in your life, the money you owe the bank, the violence in your city and, yes, the politics that divide society. Sports fans don’t want to be reminded of real life when they’re zoned in on their sports world.

Monday should have just been about Bruins fans enjoying one final, glorious moment from last spring’s Cup triumph. That Thomas chose to politicize that moment will rub some fans the wrong way. As you mentioned, it disappointed members of the organization and no doubt some teammates. It might have also confused a dressing room consisting of 17 Canadians, a Czech, a Slovak, a Finn and a German. I can’t imagine those dudes are too well-polished on American politics. Joe Corvo and Steven Kampfner are the only other American-born players on the current roster.

Still, I will say this, there are few players in the league I’ve enjoyed writing about over the years more than Thomas. His journey is well-documented. But his honesty has always been unquestionable. You never feel like you’re being fed a line from him. He speaks from the heart. So on this I will at least say, it took stones to stand up for his beliefs when a lot of athletes would not have bothered. I just don’t think, in the end, it was appropriate. Thomas would have still made his point by scrumming after the White House event and delivering his message. People would have respected him for that. But to snub it altogether took away from the team. And the team is what Thomas has always stood for, first and foremost.

Burnside: Chemistry is such a delicate thing, and it would seem improbable that Thomas’ choosing to be a conscientious objector to the team’s White House visit would upset a team that, I think, is even better than the one that won the Cup last spring, but stranger things have happened, no? Still, I’ll be shocked if we see the Bruins veer off course because of this incident.

Speaking of veering (or leaping), Washington captain Alexander Ovechkin will cool his blades for the next three games for leaping into the air and crunching Pittsburgh's Zbynek Michalek against the end boards in Sunday’s shootout loss to the Penguins. (Ovechkin pulled out of the All-Star Game on Tuesday afternoon.) This is the fifth suspension/fine for reckless behavior Ovechkin has incurred in his career or roughly one a year. I didn’t like the hit. As league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan noted in his video explanation (I hope he’s getting paid by the video hit, he’s been so busy), Ovechkin didn’t need to leave his feet to make the play on Michalek, which suggests a guy that still doesn’t get it.

That strikes at the heart of my disappointment at how the league’s supplementary discipline has degenerated into more of the same after such a promising start. You and I spoke to Shanahan in the fall. He insisted that his mandate, reinforced by discussions with GMs and players around the league, was to go after the repeat offenders. Well, hard to imagine that three games is anything more than an extended All-Star break for Ovechkin. This is a guy who saw his teammate Nicklas Backstrom go down, thanks to a dangerous elbow from Rene Bourque a few weeks ago, and Backstrom still hasn’t played. Obviously that had little impact on Ovechkin. You know what might have made an impact? A 10-game stint on the sidelines. Time to start making both teams and players pay for their dangerous work.

LeBrun: Ten games? That is crazy. I actually think that hit didn’t warrant more than one game, but Ovechkin got three because of his two prior suspensions and two prior fines. The test on Shanahan was always going to be how he reacted to a star player in supplemental discipline. I think we can safely agree now that he’s not shy about suspending a star player. Still, I suspect the general issue of supplemental discipline will once again be brought up for discussion at the March GM meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. From talking to GMs, some are pleased, some believe the judgments should be harsher and some want to see more consistency. They handed Shanahan his mandate, so we’ll see what comes out of those meetings.

Burnside: Well, I think you’re dead wrong on the Ovechkin thing, but that’s not the first time I’ve believed that of you. Guy jumps into the air -- that’s an obvious no-no -- and he hits another guy in the head when the puck is long gone -- another no-no -- and he’s a repeat offender. Uhm, five games minimum, but if you want to be a catalyst for change you have to do something other than the status quo, and a three-game knock for the loose-cannon captain of the Caps (a little alliteration for you this morning) isn’t going to change much, sadly.

But before we close, you and I have long been watching to see how the Pacific Division was going to take shape in what has been a curious season for the once hotly contested grouping. The San Jose Sharks are still technically in first place in the Pacific after picking up a point in a shootout loss to Edmonton (huh? Really? Edmonton?), while Los Angeles moved into a tie with the Sharks in points with a big win over Ottawa at home. The Kings have played four more games than the Sharks, but the Sharks have to be worried about Brent Burns after he was involved in a knee-on-knee hit with Ales Hemsky that saw Hemsky ejected and Burns hobbled. A key offseason acquisition, Burns isn’t expected to play in the Sharks’ last contest before the All-Star break Tuesday in Calgary. If he’s lost long term, it will further blunt the team’s ability to either jump up in the Western Conference standings (it is just four points back of Vancouver for the second seed with two games in hand) or, more importantly, hold off the Kings for the division title and home ice in the first round. The Sharks have been wildly unimpressive of late, winning just once in five games, and the loss of Burns would only make a murky situation even more convoluted.

LeBrun: The Sharks can ill-afford to lose Burns long term, no question about it. He’s third on the team in ice time at 22:25 per game and is third in power-play ice time and short-handed ice time. In other words, he’s hardly replaceable. My sources tell me the Sharks were already on the lookout for a forward in trade talks before this injury happened, so you wonder if they add a defenseman to that shopping list if the injury is serious or if they simply increase the workload on a youngster such as Justin Braun.

As for Hemsky, I was told this morning he will avoid any suspension, although he might get fined or at least get a warning from Shanahan.

Until tomorrow, my friend.

The Ottawa Senators are assured of having at least four familiar faces on the ice when they host the NHL All-Star game this month.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson led all vote-getters in fan balloting, and captain Daniel Alfredsson and fellow forwards Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza also were elected for the game on Jan. 29.

The NHL said Thursday they will be joined by Toronto defenseman Dion Phaneuf and Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas in this year's game.

Here is a look at the final voting tallies:

Forwards
1. Daniel Alfredsson - 897,055
2. Jason Spezza - 817,483
3. Milan Michalek - 743,977
4. Phil Kessel - 701,833
5. Joffrey Lupul - 520,843
6. Sidney Crosby - 504,393
7. Claude Giroux - 385,253
8. Jonathan Toews - 341,419
9. Pavel Datsyuk - 313,783
10. Evgeni Malkin - 303,726
11. Jaromir Jagr - 255,178
12. Patrick Kane - 244,136
13. James Neal - 230,848
14. Henrik Zetterberg - 206,852
15. Marian Hossa - 206,852
16. Steven Stamkos - 185,342
17. Jordan Eberle - 184,036
18. Alex Ovechkin - 182,920
19. Daniel Sedin - 180,636
20. Jordan Staal - 166,527
21. Henrik Sedin - 165,044
22. Patrick Sharp - 164,218
23. Ryan Kesler - 152,005
24. Danny Briere - 149,130
25. Taylor Hall - 141,366
26. Patrice Bergeron - 138,580
27. Marian Gaborik - 133,374
28. * Tyler Seguin - 121,135
29. Milan Lucic - 118,015
30. Thomas Vanek - 102,582
31. Ryan Smyth - 101,399
32. Mike Cammalleri - 99,963
33. Anze Kopitar - 92,229
34. Tomas Plekanec - 89,596
35. Teemu Selanne - 89,113
36. Brad Richards - 86,001
37. Joe Thornton - 85,314
38. Joe Pavelski - 84,405
39. Jeff Skinner - 84,063
40. Martin St. Louis - 79,278
41. Matt Duchene - 76,451
42. Nicklas Backstrom - 75,661
43. Patrick Marleau - 74,284
44. * Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - 73,908
45. Jarome Iginla - 70,570
46. Jason Pominville - 67,005
47. Zach Parise - 63,611
48. Jamie Benn - 62,840
49. David Backes - 62,420
50. Mike Richards - 58,794

Defensemen
1. Erik Karlsson - 939,591
2. Dion Phaneuf - 614,933
3. Sergei Gonchar - 603,628
4. Nicklas Lidstrom - 476,979
5. Zdeno Chara - 463,650
6. Kris Letang - 452,979
7. John-Michael Liles - 401,096
8. Duncan Keith - 295,033
9. Shea Weber - 261,597
10. Brent Seabrook - 230,472
11. P.K. Subban - 226,272
12. Niklas Kronwall - 198,859
13. Kimmo Timonen - 195,334
14. Chris Pronger - 176,367
15. Alexander Edler - 167,794
16. Dustin Byfuglien - 149,405
17. Drew Doughty - 115,404
18. Dan Boyle - 114,816
19. Brent Burns - 91,434
20. Brian Campbell - 88,654
21. Mike Green - 88,019
22. Marc Staal - 87,902
23. Ryan Whitney - 86,781
24. Sheldon Souray - 84,597
25. * Dan Girardi - 78,411
26. Tyler Myers - 72,360
27. Alex Pietrangelo - 68,881
28. Jack Johnson - 66,498
29. Ryan Suter - 60,525
30. * Brooks Orpik - 58,814

Goaltenders
1. Tim Thomas - 626,540
2. James Reimer - 498,075
3. Marc-Andre Fleury - 424,619
4. Carey Price - 251,395
5. Henrik Lundqvist - 209,943
6. * Jimmy Howard - 192,685
7. Nikolai Khabibulin - 185,354
8. Pekka Rinne - 171,179
9. Ilya Bryzgalov - 166,647
10. Roberto Luongo - 166,391
11. Jonathan Quick - 118,174
12. Martin Brodeur - 102,672
13. * Corey Crawford - 99,264
14. Ryan Miller - 97,626
15. * Craig Anderson - 79,064
16. Kari Lehtonen - 78,735
17. Tomas Vokoun - 59,325
18. Jaroslav Halak - 50,168
19. * Brian Elliott - 46,245
20. Cam Ward - 44,037

* - Write-in candidate