As an Isles fan I must say I am happy with thier performance on this road trip and particularly Big Al. The pipes were like a second goaltender for crawford. great overall game. "bout time the Isles showed some consistant paly and energy. looking forward to tonights tilt in dallas.

I love center ice.

Wings win #7 in a row. I just caught the last 10 min.

Interesting part 3 will be out in a few days.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...html#chapter/1

Good Story
I can't wait for part Three

AVS!!!!!!!!!! Hold :52!!!!!!!

YES!!!! Empty netter!

And the Blackhawks thank you! :-)

I am just happy to win one now and then.... The kids keep fighting!

B's put it to the Pen's tonight and just keep rolling along :-)

Hawks did well to steal a point tonight after falling behind 3-0. Emery did a nice job in relief of Crawford, at least until the shootout.

Hawks still need to start better and not keep coming from behind for points.

Hawks and Wings will stay in the same conference.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/73...alignment-plan

I like the fact that the first two rounds of the playoffs will be against teams from the same "conference", brings back old rivalries ala the old Norris division. I also like the fact that every team in the NHL will play a game in the United Center once every season.

Your thoughts?

I like the fact that the finals could be two eastern teams like Bruins,Rangers...old school :-)

Yes, it will be interesting to see how they seed the 3rd round, apparently that decision will come from the GM meetings in 2012.

Will the old division names still fit?

Adams, Norris, Smyth, & Patrick

They were like Men among boys last night. I am surprised it wasn't worse on the scoreboard. The Pens have some serious work to do.

I'm excited for the home and home with all the teams every season. Finally Bettman did something right!

Agreed, and for the first round staying in the conference means no more 10 PM start times for at least the first round of the playoffs.

Haven't posted in this thread, but follow my Wild. I've been very impressed with their play this year. The offseason pickups are working out so far, including the coach. seems that he's got the buy in from the players and it's working. Will they be able to keep it up for the rest of the year? I don't know, but the future looks pretty damn bright, with all the young guys playing as well as they have.

Great to see the realignment revive some of the old school (for me, Norris Division, with MN, St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit) rivalries. It'll be nice that I'll be able to watch more than 10 min of the first period for a lot of road games. Plus, we'll get the Stars here to boo mercilessly more often. :-)

The Wild are off to an excellent start, Mike.

Yes! Plus more chances to face that Chicago team in the playoffs. :-)