Potter Recalled

Corey Potter has been recalled from Hartford, presumably to play in Ottawa
in case Michael Del Zotto cannot due to his injury. Potter, 26, has a line of 2-11-13 and +5 in 51 games for Hartford this season.

Gold Medal Game: USA vs Canada

It’s here. The Gold Medal Game. USA. Canada. Does it get better than this? Well, yes, yes it does. We’ll be chatting live–LIVE–during the game. Join myself, Dave, and fellow fans while we watch the game together. Tell your friends. Have them tell their friends. Let’s make this huge.

OPPONENT: Canada

GOALIE: Roberto Luongo, 2.35 GAA and a .919 save percentage with Vancouver.

USA LINES:

Langenbrunner-Statsny-Parise

Kane-Kesler-Brown

Malone-Pavelski-Kessel

Ryan-Backes-Drury/Callahan

Our savior, Ryan Miller, will be in goal.

STATE OF THE UNION: Pretty damn good. USA looked good against the Finns. 6 goals in the first period? Crazy. Once again, Miller will have to stand on his head. This is a different Canadian team then the one we saw in the preliminary rounds. Their offense is clicking, and that’s without Sidney Crosby for the most part. Will he break out? I think the defense is a bit shoddy, and Luongo hasn’t really been tested. I think the key is an aggressive forecheck. USA has done that in all of the games. But you know that Canada is going to come out firing. Crowd will be on their side. It will help USA to get the first goal, silence the crowd. If Canada scores first, look out.

CRAZY THOUGHT: Drury scores

ON THE iPOD: Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen

FINAL PREDICTION: I’ve struggled with this one. I really think it could go either way. If Miller plays like he has been, then USA gets the gold. If Crosby breaks out, watch out. It should be fun. That said, USA 3, Canada 2

So, watch, CHAT, discuss, have fun. USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

Jokinen Nets Two, Finns Win Bronze

Fresh off their embarrassing 6-1 loss in the semi finals to Team USA, Team Finland rebounded nicely in the bronze medal game last night, defeating Team Slovakia to win the Bronze medal. The Finns showed some tremendous poise, netting four goals in the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit to win 5-3.

The comeback was led by Rangers center Olli Jokinen, who scored two goals two minutes apart. These goals tied the game, and then gave the Finns the lead for good. Valterri Filpulla Valtteri Filppula added an empty netter to seal the deal for the Finns.

Rangers forward Marian Gaborik, who suffered a lower body injury in the semi finals game, scored a goal for the Slovaks.

Team USA faces off against Team Canada for the gold today at 3pm.

It’s Canada

So, I’m terribly sorry for screwing up on the live chat. Of course, it’s not my fault. My town was hit HARD by that snow storm. 20 inches, maybe. Power was out (well, it’s out completely now, but for awhile, it was on in half of my house. Very weird. My bedroom had lights. My bathroom? Not so much. Late Friday Night it to no lights all over the house) As such, Internet was out, and my AT&T wireless internet card was impossibly slow. So, no chat. Thankfully, I am now in a hotel, and I have Internet a plenty. There will be a live chat. 3 PM. Be there.

Just a little scouting report before the game. As always, it comes down to Ryan Miller. But, the good thing is, Patrick Kane seemed to break out. So did Statsny. We’ve seen Parise become hot. So, if the three big offensive stars are in their groove, things should be better. But, we can’t stress enough how important Miller has to be. He has to be better than he was the first time against Canada. It should be fun .

So, remember, live chat 3 PM

Gaborik Leaves Semis Early, No Word on Injury

In case you missed it last night, Marian Gaborik left last night’s semi-finals game against Canada early, and did not return for the rest of the game. Early speculation is that it was a groin injury, but no official confirmation has been made. Due to the ridiculous NHLPA injury disclosure clause, all we know is that it is a lower body injury.

In the famous words of Scooby-Doo; ruh roh.

Rangers Claim Alex Auld On Re-Entry Waivers

Via Larry Brooks, the Rangers have claimed backup goalie Alex Auld off re-entry waivers from the Stars. The team will assume a $500,000 cap hit with the move, which saves them about $350,000 compared to carrying Chad Johnson.

Auld, 29, will be a free agent after the season, and is 9-6 with a 3.00 GAA and a 0.894 SV% in 21 games this year. Dallas had no place for him following their pickup of Kari Lehtonen. It’s hard not to like the move, the Rangers freed up some cap space, got a veteran backup, and can let Johnson and Matt Zaba continue to play regularly in Hartford.

Semi-Finals: USA vs Finland

It’s here. USA will take on Finland to move onto the gold-medal game. Are you pumped? I am. And making this even more exciting? We here at BSB will be chatting LIVE during the game. It should be fun.

OPPONENT: Finland

GOALIE: Miikka Kiprusoff, 2.218 GAA and a .925 save percentage with Calgary

USA LINES:

Langenbrunner-Statsny-Parise

Kane-Kesler-Ryan

Kessel-Pavelski-Malone

Brown-Backes-Drury/Callahan

STATE OF THE UNION: Pretty good. USA looked awesome against the Swiss–that game would have been 5-0 if not for Hiller.

Technical difficulties, live chat coming soon.

Johnson Back to Hartford

Miika Wiikman called up for the day, Chad Johnson returned to Hartford, presumably to get some playing time in. This is as per CapGeek.

Yawn.

Souray Rumors Heating Up

Update: Ok, this post title is extremely misleading. Sorry.

There is nothing official going around the blog/twitter-sphere about the Rangers pursuit of Sheldon Souray, post-injury. There is some talk going around about the continued pursuit of the defenseman, because he is signed through next year at a relatively reasonable* price.

*-Reasonable when compared to the Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival contracts.

That said, I propose this trade. Bear in mind that this has nothing to do with any rumors, or anything I have heard. It is just me speculating what could work.

To EDM:
Michal Rozsival
Dan Girardi
NYR 2010 4th round pick

To NYR:
Sheldon Souray
Andrew Cogliano
EDM 2010 5th round pick

Replace Girardi in the lineup with one of Corey Potter/Ilkka Heikkinen (Bobby Sanguinetti is injured). I think it’s feasible. What do you guys think?

Prospal Wants to Stay

As per Arthur Staple of Newsday, Rangers forward Vinny Prospal has made it public that he does not want to be traded by Wednesday’s trade deadline:

“I’m very happy with the way things are going here,” he said, noting that his agent and Sather have had no discussions on a contract extension. “The most important thing is I have family here, the kids are in school and I don’t like the thought of being away from them for who knows how long.

The way this quote is phrased, it sounds like Prospal wants to stay a Ranger in the future as well. If he wants to play for under $2 million, then I’m all for it. After all, he is getting $1.16 million a year from TB through 2014-2015.