-- Up top, the Los Angeles Kings surprised a lot of people with their acquisition of Ben Bishop from Tampa Bay. Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones try to make sense of the trade.
-- The Arizona Coyotes got a pretty good haul for Martin Hanzal, a 30-year-old pending unrestricted free agent. That being said, another first-round draft pick isn’t going to help the Coyotes in the near future, and Ken Campbell of The Hockey News wonders how the team can sell hope to its fans when established players keep leaving. (The Hockey News)
-- Speaking of Arizona, the Buffalo Sabres were there Sunday, and it did not go well for the visitors. The Sabres blew a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 in regulation after the Coyotes pumped three third-period goals past Anders Nilsson. Even worse? The day before, the Sabres lost 5-3 to Colorado, the worst team in the league. “Forget about any playoff race,” writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. “The Buffalo Sabres are toast after one of the most egregious weekends in recent franchise history.” (Buffalo News)
Read more: Sabres preaching the process, but major roster holes remain
-- Gabriel Landeskog doesn’t want to be traded by Colorado. “I want to be here. I want to be an Avalanche for a long time. I hope it remains that way.” Granted, he’s said that before and it hasn’t stopped his name from popping up in rumors. The way things have gone for the Avs this season, it’s pretty obvious that something has to give. Even if it won’t be easy for GM Joe Sakic to fix the roster through trades alone. (Denver Post)
-- Postmedia’s Ed Willes argues that the Vancouver Canucks need to start selling a different story to their fans. Writes Willes: “The only way out for the Canucks, in fact, is by drafting and developing, and the organization has made some gains in those areas. The extent of those gains will be revealed over the coming seasons, but, at the minimum, this is a far better story to tell, especially when juxtaposed against the ‘we’re a playoff-team’ howler.” (National Post)
-- An article on why it’s important that the Montreal Canadiens’ head coach speaks French. The Habs have got that again in Claude Julien, which is partly why they were so quick to pounce after he was fired by the Boston Bruins. (New York Times)
Enjoy the games!
