Ice Scoopz: Monday Evening -> Avery On Re-Entry Waivers

*-> The Dallas Star's have placed super pest Sean Avery on re-entry waivers today after announcing it Friday afternoon. The Dallas Stars are hoping that the New York Ranger's are going to claim him for their playoff run. There has been no secret that the Ranger's want Sean back and having to pay only half his salary should help that cause. If the Ranger's don't claim him it's highly unlikely another team will. Rumors say Avery hasn't been the same player since he got back from his rehab program. My thinking is that he just needs some time to get game ready and that also he's playing soft because he's hoping a team will grab him and he wants to be healthy.

*-> A big rumor out of Ottawa has surfaced today as Bryan Murray continues to work the phones. The Columbus Blue Jacket's interest in Antoine Vermette has increased as of late and Columbus scouts and GM Jay Howson was seen in Ottawa this Saturday night watching the Sens and Leafs. Ottawa has apparently shown interest in goalie Pascal Leclaire and many feel a deal could be worked out between the two sides as a 1 for 1 swap. There is no secret Ottawa still needs goaltending and Vermette hasn't exactly shined in his role in Ottawa. The Blue Jacket's would love to see Vermette playing with Rick Nash. Some pundits have put Jason Spezza as the man the Blue Jacket's want and it could even involve a multi player deal. I doubt they would shop Spezza unless they could get another big name or blue chip prospect in return. anything could happen though it's trade deadline day.

*-> Another Columbus rumor to bring out is that the Blue Jacket's have apparently called the Buffalo Sabre's organization in regards to soon to be UFA and often injured center Tim Connolly. The Buffalo Sabre's are really reluctant in trading Connolly because he has been playing extremely well as of late but they may risk loosing him this summer. The Jacket's feel he would resign with them and he would be a good fit for Nash.

*-> Rumor has it the reason the Guerin deal is taking a lot longer than expected is that there are more suitors than expected. Most teams deny interest or talking to the Islander's but that's just politics. The Montreal Canadian's have stepped into the fray as the Carolina Hurricanes. The leader though still appears to be Washington as they would like to add experience and Bill Guerin's leadership to their young core.

*-> Brian Burke of the Toronto Maple Leaf's spoke out today and squashed all rumors he was working on a deal with the Boston Bruin's for Tomas Kaberle. Burke claims this is not the case and he has never spoken with the Bruins about Tomas Kaberle and nor would as they are division rivals. This doesn't sound like politics to me as it's highly unlikely unless the Bruins were willing to pay over the top for the allstar blueliner.

Ice Scoopz: Friday Late Night -> F. Kaberle On Waivers

*-> Frantisek Kaberle has been waived today by the Carolina Hurricanes. Frantisek Kaberle has struggled most of last season and this season and Carolina is desperatly trying to find a trading partner to get deal him to. So far no buyers but this might get things moving with him on waivers. Rumor has it that Carolina is close to deal and this is the first step before they can bring in another body. Kaberle most likely will be claimed as he still has a bit of value left in him and a team looking for a cheap solution may take a risk. If not expect Carolina to send him to the AHL and or put him on re-entry waivers to try and find a more budgitable solution. Teams reportedly interested are the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers are desperate for some help on the blueline after loosing two defesemen in the past two weeks.

*-> Tomas Plekanec of the Montreal Canadiens was suspended today for 2 games after tripping Edmonton Oilers defenseman Denis Grebeshkov leg first into the boards. Plekanec and Grebeshkov were racing for an icing call and Plekanec took out Grebeshkov's legs and he slide leg first, getting injured on the play. Guy Carboneau believes it was a hockey play and because the player was injured that it was only called. The league saw differently.

*-> Defenseman Chris Pronger who has been the subject of many trade rumors has officially stated he does not want to be traded and will not accept any kind of trade proposal from the Anaheim Ducks so we can most likely rule any big move for Pronger out. He currently is happy in Anaheim and would like to play out the rest of his contract there.

*-> John Paddock has been silenced by Ottawa GM and former friend Bryan Murray and owner Eugene Melnyk after his anti-Murray comments this week. John Paddock came out and said it's Bryans Murray's fault for Ottawa's downfall the last few seasons. The players he has brought in aren't any good he claims and it's all the players Murray has brought in. Since Paddock is still under contract technically by Ottawa they can cease payments because of this incident but instead Ottawa's asking for Paddock to keep his comments to himself. Personally I agree with this, Ottawa has been on a steady downfall since Murray took over. Letting players like Chara and Havlat go for nothing is ridiculous. Yes Havlat for nothing as well, where is Josh Hennessy and Tom Priessing? Murray should be gone at the end of the season, and if he isn't then the Sens are in trouble this off season.

The I.R: Sunday Afternoon -> Kaberle Out

*-> Toronto's blueliner Tomas Kaberle will miss at least one month with a broken bone in his hand. After taking a shot off his hand during a game agains't Colorado. Brian Burke must be sweating after this one because this will seriously effect his chances of being able to trade Kaberle before the deadline. Kaberle is after all one of Toronto's few players that would fetch some value. Anton Stralman was recalled from the Toronto Marlies to take his place on the backend.

*-> The Columbus dispatch has reported that youngstar Steve Mason of the Bluejackets is/has been battling mono for the part month. The team has issued a statment saying that they will continue to play the goalie until he is unable to play. Could Columbus be in the market for another goalie to give their youngster a break?

*-> Fabian Brunnstrum the much anticipated free agent signing late last season has been recalled from the Manitoba Moose back to the Dallas Stars today after only one game in the AHL. Rumors has it that this was a wake up call to the forward to see if they can try and get him playing after barely getting noticed this season.

*-> Josh Gorges of the Montreal Canadians will be out a few games after that nasty head shot from Denis Gauthier Saturday afternoon. The Montreal brass has stated the injury is not due to the hit but another hit later on in the game after returning. Apparently he may be suffering from concussion like symptoms from the original hit. They say he should be back in action late this week, we'll see though how this progresses. Montreal has recalled Alex Henry and Ryan O'Bryne to replace him.

Ice Scoopz : Monday Part 1

So I'm feeling better now and can finally get this back on the road.

*-Right now there are huge rumors swirling around the league about the Ottawa Senators. Something big is going to go down by the end of the week. Fans and management are furious with the lack luster effort their team has put forward each night and everyone is just starting to realize that the playoffs are fading slowly out of the picture. GM Brian Murray is fed up and has to shake up his team. I believe this will start by waiving a or a couple of players. The main target could be Martin Gerber. His value is low and Binghampton starter Brian Elliott has shown he can play at the NHL level. Clearing Gerber's 3+ million salary would definitely help make room for another player. The other player I have heard regularly being shopped is Jason Spezza. Spezza to Calgary has been thrown around quite a bit. Brian Murray stated last week he has a deal in theory for a puck moving defenseman but the other team expects him to give up a big name and take a high salary in return. Gerber's waiving could be the set-up. There will be a shake up soon and Ottawa will most likely be sellers at this point in the season. Is it time to rebuild? Or just make a change? That's the question.

*-TSN has reported that the Lecavalier deal to Montreal might possible be in the works. They say Montreal and Tampa Bay have been in talks throughout the season about a deal and Tampa is just waiting for an answer from Vinny. Ownership wants to here "I want to stay" or "I'm willing to go to....." out of Lecavalier soon so that they can start their plans for the future. After this disappointing season why not? A deal could kick start a massive overhaul and put them back in contention in a few years the way Philly did. The rumored package they'd receive for Lecavalier is Josh Gorges, Chris Higgins, Tomas Plecanec, prospect P.K Subban and multiple 1st rounders. That's quite a haul for one player and I know if I was them why not? Another name being thrown about is Mike Komisarek but TSN's Bob McKenzie rules it out and Bob knows his stuff.

*-Atlanta named Ilya Kovalchuk their new captain today so does this mean the trade rumors are wrong? I still think he'll go this deadline if there is no deal in place. Atlanta cant afford to lose their last valuable asset to free agency and now is the time to trade him while he still has time on his contract to trap another team.

*-Finally Brian Burke is claiming to newspapers that the market is soft and although he wants change he hasn't really gotten any decent offers. Burke's still trying to add some toughness to his line-up preferably a power forward who can score. Tomas Kaberle has said this past week he'll waive his no trade clause if hes asked but Burke came back a couple days later with saying he'll never ask any of his players to do so because they would have earned it. Philly has been gunning for Kaberle ever since last trade deadline when they tried to acquire him but he refused to waive it. The Flyer's are still rumored to be interested and could dangle Mike Knuble and or Scottie Upshall the Leafs way with some picks. The Buds have to make a choice Kubina or Kaberle and I think Kaberle A. has more value and B. Kubina is actually looking like the player they thought they had when they signed him.

Well I'll be back in a bit with The I.R, and Wednesday we wil continue on like usual including team Germany and team Latvia reports on top of the usual Tuesday line-up tommorow.