Hockey Day in Sunrise ... Boston Bruins @ Florida Panthers ... Nasty Nick IN, Brett McLean OUT ... More from Randy Moller ... Saturday Standings and Scoreboard

Nothing finer than Hockey Day in Canada, with coverage from CBC on the NHL Network as we speak.

Lots of fun, with a lot of the programing surrounding small-town Canadian hockey.

This year's Hockeyville: Campbellton, New Brunswick.

Check it out if you would. The CBC does a great job with this all-day coverage, the highlights of which are the three games involving all six Canadian teams. The biggie, of course, is Mats Sundin and the Luongos going into Toronto tonight.

Montreal and Ottawa kick off the Canadian NHL games today at 3.

-- Mmmmm. Timbits.

-- Big doings in Pantherland, the Bruins coming to town and creating quite a buzz. Tonight's game is expected to be only the second sellout of the season. Opening Night was close. Should be a good atmosphere in North Weston tonight.

David J. Neal, sure you all remember him, writes about Panther Hysteria in a rare 1A feature.

Good crowd at the morning skate today. Nice seeing everyone.

-- Speaking of links, Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post writes about Randy Moller and his crazy goal calls. Why link to a Post story? Word is we share things now. Sometime they run my stuff. Or so I've heard.

Here's the original story from Barry Jackson way back in December.

-- Oh, what the heck: Here's Mollers' YouTube clip. Enjoy.

-- Pete DeBoer is mixing things up a little bit, sitting Brett McLean and putting Nick Tarnasky back in the lineup. PDeB says it wasn't a message thing, saying no one plays harder than McLean and that Tarnasky has fresh legs and deserves a spot in the lineup.

Also, putting in Nick toughens things up a bit in case Boston wants to mix things up. The Panthers do need more production from McLean but the entire fourth line.

Anthony Stewart is getting chances, so is Kamil Kreps. McLean had a big scoring opportunity Thursday. But they need to start taking advantage. That fourth line doing something offensively would be a huge lift.

-- T-Vo goes tonight.

-- Former Panther Chris Gratton is finally done with the Lightning, picked up by Columbus off waivers. Good for him. He'll dig C-bus (and dig the postseason).

-- Friday's Games (and what they meant to the Panthers): Tampa Bay did the Panthers no favors, giving up two in the third at Carolina as the Hurricanes moved to within a point of seventh/eighth.

Colorado put a hurting on the Caps (not that it matters) and the Red Wings seemed to be on the Belle Tire power play throughout the second in their win over Anaheim. The Ducks are in trouble.

-- Saturday's Games (and who I think the Panthers would be rooting for if they were into such things)

Pens @ Flyers, now: Game is tied at 1 as I write this. Panthers are rooting for Flyers; Pens are getting too close for comfort (remember that show? The Cosmic Cow? The hot daughters? Judge Smails? Good stuff).

UPDATE: Pens win 5-4 in regulation. That means the Pens (with Sergei Gonchar back) are poised to make a nice run. Pens are two points back but Panthers have played two fewer games. Still.

Hawks @ Stars, now: No real interest.

Sens @ Canadiens: Rooting for the Sens. They're probably out of it but the Panthers are chasing the scandal-plagued Habs.

UPDATE: Alex Kovalev sure looks relaxed, doesn't he?

Coyotes @ Kings, 4: No real interest, although the Kings are trying to get into the playoffs. Well, the Dogs are too.

Thrashers @ Sharks, 4: Atlanta is still on the road? Geez.

Rangers @  Sabres, 7: Tough one here. Panthers are just hoping this one doesn't go to overtime. Panthers have one left against Rangers (Thursday at MSG) and two in Beefalo. So I guess Buffalo.

Canucks @ Leafs, 7: No real interest, although it should be fun to see if Mats gets the Bryan McCabe treatment.

Devils @ Islanders, 7: Islanders. Why not.

Bruins @ Panthers, 7: Florida is rooting for the Bruins in this one. They're like that you know.

Ducks @ Jackets, 7: Ducks really need this one. Right now the word to describe their game ryhmes with duck.

Wings @ Wild, 8: Minny is trying really hard to get into the playoffs, but this game isn't too important since Mike Russo is here in Florida. OK, he's going to a wedding. That's a good excuse.

Preds @ Blues, 8:30: I don't think I want to comment on this game.

Flames @ Oil, 10: Final game of Hockey Day in Canada. Should be a wild night in Red Deer.

The Standings (brought to you by Tim Hortons)

LEGEND ›

		DIV	GP	W	L	OT	Pts	GF	GA	Home	Away	L10	Streak
1	Boston Bruins	NE	58	40	10	8	88	197	131	19-4-4	21-6-4	5-2-3	Won 1
2	New Jersey Devils	ATL	59	38	18	3	79	182	147	19-10-1	19-8-2	7-3-0	Won 1
3	Washington Capitals	SE	59	37	17	5	79	196	170	23-5-1	14-12-4	7-2-1	Lost 1
4	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	56	31	16	9	71	185	164	17-7-3	14-9-6	6-4-0	Won 3
5	New York Rangers	ATL	59	31	22	6	68	147	163	18-9-3	13-13-3	2-6-2	Won 1
6	Montréal Canadiens	NE	59	30	22	7	67	179	181	17-6-4	13-16-3	2-7-1	Lost 3
7	Florida Panthers	SE	58	29	21	8	66	164	159	16-8-5	13-13-3	6-4-0	Lost 1
8	Buffalo Sabres	NE	59	30	23	6	66	175	166	16-11-2	14-12-4	5-4-1	Lost 1
9	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	60	30	25	5	65	157	174	15-13-1	15-12-4	6-4-0	Won 2
10	Pittsburgh Penguins	ATL	59	28	25	6	62	178	182	16-12-2	12-13-4	4-4-2	Won 1
11	Ottawa Senators	NE	57	22	26	9	53	141	163	12-10-5	10-16-4	5-3-2	Lost 2
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	58	21	26	11	53	175	214	10-11-7	11-15-4	4-3-3	Lost 2
13	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	59	19	28	12	50	148	188	10-12-8	9-16-4	2-6-2	Lost 4
14	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	59	21	32	6	48	175	208	9-17-2	12-15-4	4-5-1	Lost 1
15	New York Islanders	ATL	58	17	35	6	40	140	198	11-13-4	6-22-2	3-6-1	Lost 2

LEGEND ›

		DIV	GP	W	L	OT	Pts	GF	GA	Home	Away	L10	Streak
1	San Jose Sharks	PAC	56	39	8	9	87	196	139	25-2-3	14-6-6	4-2-4	Won 2
2	Detroit Red Wings	CEN	59	39	12	8	86	226	172	22-4-3	17-8-5	8-1-1	Won 2
3	Calgary Flames	NW	58	34	18	6	74	184	171	20-7-4	14-11-2	4-4-2	Won 1
4	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	56	33	15	8	74	190	140	15-4-5	18-11-3	7-3-0	Won 3
5	Vancouver Canucks	NW	58	29	21	8	66	178	168	14-11-4	15-10-4	7-2-1	Won 3
6	Columbus Blue Jackets	CEN	59	30	23	6	66	163	164	19-9-2	11-14-4	6-3-1	Won 2
7	Dallas Stars	PAC	57	29	21	7	65	173	176	17-7-4	12-14-3	7-3-0	Won 2
8	Edmonton Oilers	NW	58	29	25	4	62	163	179	13-11-3	16-14-1	4-5-1	Lost 2
9	Anaheim Ducks	PAC	60	28	27	5	61	168	175	15-13-3	13-14-2	4-6-0	Lost 3
10	Minnesota Wild	NW	56	28	24	4	60	144	132	17-11-4	11-13-0	5-4-1	Lost 3
11	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	57	25	23	9	59	152	164	13-12-8	12-11-1	5-3-2	Lost 1
12	Nashville Predators	CEN	59	27	28	4	58	141	168	16-11-2	11-17-2	5-4-1	Lost 3
13	St Louis Blues	CEN	58	25	26	7	57	165	177	15-11-4	10-15-3	5-2-3	Won 1
14	Colorado Avalanche	NW	59	28	30	1	57	163	181	17-14-0	11-16-1	5-5-0	Won 3
15	Phoenix Coyotes	PAC	59	26	28	5	57	150	181	17-12-2	9-16-3	2-8-0	Won 1

Comments

[EJ]

It'll be nice to see nasty Nick in the lineup. Although McLean has been getting his chances, he's still not getting the job done (goals). IMO, he just simply isn't worth his contract.

[jh]

Agree on Mclean..

Same bet as last year, GR...we make the playoffs i take you to my weston hills my treat during first round.

Far from a given though. long way to go, not sure if we dont need a center in order to make it...Afraid like you of pens....

[George Richards]

That wouldn't be ethical by any stretch. We'll play, but I'll pay. Either way. I like me some Weston Hills....