Last Minute Moves

Today, at 3:00pm, all the NBA teams will make their last minute moves to get the championship. Here are all the rumors you need to know to have the edge on the NBA trade deadline.

The biggest name to enter trade rumors is New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd.

He has once again played solid for the Nets, which prompts a higher trade value for him. The trade that the Nets want to make though is highly unlikely to happen. The Nets want 7 foot, 19 year old Andrew Bynum, who the Lakers say is untouchable. The Nets don't want to trade anyone else, so it looks like Jason Kidd is staying put in New Jersey.

Another big name involved in trade rumors is Sacramento point guard Mike Bibby.

A trade to put Bibby between LeBron James and Larry Hughes in Cleveland has been going on for a while now. The Cavs are seriously interested in doing this, even if it means bringing in a 3rd team to do it. An unlikely scenario is that Cleveland's Drew Gooden and Minnesota's Mike James would go to Sacramento. Another scenario is that Bibby will go to the Dallas Mavericks for speedster Devin Harris. None of these are likely to happen.

Mike Jame is the final big name to be rumored in trades.

Mike James has been labeled a mistake to be signed in Minnesota. The biggest contender to acquire James are the Houston Rockets. According to club insiders. the Rockets still like the 6 foot 2 point guard. With a 4 year contract, any team would like to have this guy.

Huet Out For Rest Of Regular Season

The Montreal Canadiens are in a slump right now. Thats the only way you can put it. And the news that they got on Tuesday isn't going to help.

#1 goalie Cristobal Huet is going to be out for the rest of the regular season after having surgery on a torn left hamstring on Sunday. He suffered the injury against the New Jersey Devils February 14th. Huet hopes he'll be back for the playoffs if the Habs even make the playoffs. The scary thing about this injury is that this is the best case scenario. If the injury was any farther up the hamstring, Huet would be out for much, much longer.

The injury bug is hitting Montreal at the worst possible time. In addition to Huet's injury, Steve Begin will be out for 10 - 14 days and Chris Higgins is questionable for their next 2 games.

Meanwhile, AHL goalie sensation Jaroslav Halak will carry the weight of Habs goalie for the rest of the season. He has played 2 games for the Habs, both of them wins. On Sunday the Halak faced the Blue Jackets and only gave up 2 goals in a 3-2 win for the Habs. In his second game, the Habs faced the Washington Capitals in D.C. Halak gave up 3 goals in another Canadiens win. Even with only 2 NHL games under his belt, Halak is already drawing comparisons to Ken Dryden. He may lead the Habs to the playoffs, but that is a lot of pressure for a 21 year old. But who knows, maybe he will be the next Dryden.

While Halak takes the #1 job in Montreal, look who's left behind. David Aebischer.

He has had one of the worst years a goalie can possibly have. He couldn't beat Cristobal Huet for the # job, so he goes backup. Then, Huet gets an injury. With any other team they would go straight to their #2 goalie, but not in Montreal. Instead of Aebischer they brought up an inexperienced 21 year old to play #1. We've seen before that this guy can be great, but now, he's playing horrible.

So the question to ask in Montreal is, "Who will be the one to step it up?"

Daytona 500

Yesterday, the Great American Race was raced in Daytona Beach, Florida. As always, there was a great race, some crashes and a great finish.

Racer Kevin Harvick started 37th at the beginning of the race, just ahead up penalized driver Jeff Gordon and ended up winning after a photo finish with Mark Martin. This was Harvick's 23th time racing in Daytona and he finally won it.

Going into the final lap, these 2 were neck in neck. With just a half lap to go, there was a crash and no caution flag, so it was just Martin and Harvick. Martin was behind by a couple mila-seconds, but had the inside track. It looked like Martin was going to take over the lead, but Harvick made a move to stay in the lead. Finally, at the finish line, no one knew who won. The NASCAR officials had to check a replay so that the decision could be made final.

The fact that Harvick started 37th makes him the lowest starting racer to win the race. In an interview after the race Harvick said, ' This is the Daytona 500, can you believe it?" This was one of the closest finishes in Daytona 500 history with Harvick winning by .020 seconds. Harvicks previous best in the Daytona 500 was 4th in 2003 and 2004. It looked like luck was on his side as the 2 top contenders to win the race- Tony Stewert and Kurt Busch both crashed with 47 laps to go.

So I say congrats to Kevin Harvick and good luck next year.

Saturday Night Hockey

Yesterday, 5 out of 6 Canadian teams played as part of Hockey Night In Canada.

In the first of three 7:00pm starts, the Toronto Maple Leafs faced the Edmonton Oilers.

scored on a power play 12 minutes into the game on a beautiful pass from The game started late because of a ceremony honouring the 1967 Maple Leaf Stanley Cup champions. Then the game started. Mats Sundin scored on a powerplay from a beautiful pass from Kaberle. In the 2nd period, John Pohl scored his 9th to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead. But then just 47 seconds after Pohl's goal, Steve Staios scored his 2nd on a point shoot. After the teams traded goals the 3rd started. 10:55 into the period, Mats Sundin scored his 25th to give the Leafs a 2 goal advantage. Then with the goalie pulled, Edmonton scored to make it a 1 goal game, but the Leafs held on for 4-3 win. The Leafs now find themselves 1 point out of 7th and they have 2 games to get they 1 point. And the Oilers are now 7 points out of a playoff spot and have no games at hand.

In the second game, the Montreal Canadiens faced the Carolina Hurricanes.

Late in the 1st, Sheldon Souray scored to give the Habs the lead. Then in the second Rod Brind'amour scored to tie it up. After the teams traded goals, the Canes started to run away with it. First scored again, and than Cole. Finally, Eric Stall scored to Late in the 1st, Sheldon Souray let a blast go and beat Cam Ward. But then early in the 2nd , Rod Brind'amour scored to clinch the win for the Hurricanes. The Canes now sit 7th in the Conference and the Canadiens find themselves on the outside looking in as they are now in 10th place.

In the final 7:00pm start of the day, the Ottawa Senators faced the Atlanta Thrashers.

This was a huge game for each team. The game's 1st goal was scored by Steve McCarthy 11 minutes into the 1st. Then with just over half a minute left in the period, Peter Schaefer potted his 11th to tie the game up at 1 a piece. Then in the 2nd the Thrashers scored 2 and the Sens 1 for the Thrashers to grab the lead 3-2 going into the 3rd. In the 3rd, Ottawa started there come back. First Comrie scored his 20th to tie it up, then Dean Mcammond scored to give the Sens the lead. Finally Fisher scored an empty-netter to give the Senators the 5-3 win. The Sens are now 5th in the Conference and the Thrashers are now 6th.

The final Canadian game of the night was the Calgary Flames against the Colorado Avalanche.

2:59 into the 2nd, Huselius scored his 26th to give the Flames the lead. Then the Avalanche scored 2 goals in a row curtsy of Paul Stastny and Andrew Brunette. Bu then the Flames came back with 2 of their own goals from Iginla and Dion Phaneuf. Going into the 3rd the score was 3-2 for the Flames. In the 3rd the Flames got 2 insurance goals from Huselius and Stephan Yelle. The Flames are now 7th in the Conference and the Avalanche are 10th and are at the bottom of their division.

Here are the rest of the scores:

Philadelphia vs NY Rangers: 5 - 3
Boston vs Buffalo: 4 - 3 (SO)
New Jersey vs NY Islanders: 2 - 0
Tampa Bay vs Florida: 4 - 5
Minnesota vs Nashville: 4 - 1
Detroit vs Phoenix: 4 - 1

Eastern Conference
RK		GP	W	L		OT	PTS	GF	GA	HOME	AWAY	L10
1	Buffalo	59	39	15		5	83	217	168	20-7-3	19-8-2	6-3-1
2	NEW JERSEY*	59	36	17		6	78	160	140	21-6-4	15-11-2	6-3-1
3	TAMPA BAY*	60	33	24		3	69	191	183	16-13-0	17-11-3	7-2-1
4	PITTSBURGH	57	31	17		9	71	200	179	17-8-4	14-9-5	9-0-1
5	OTTAWA	59	34	22		3	71	200	157	18-11-2	16-11-1	7-2-1
6	ATLANTA	61	30	22		9	69	185	194	14-9-5	16-13-4	2-7-1
7	CAROLINA	61	30	24		7	67	185	192	15-11-4	15-13-3	4-5-1
8	TORONTO	59	29	22		8	66	191	192	12-12-5	17-10-3	7-1-2
9	NY ISLANDERS	59	28	23		8	64	171	165	14-10-4	14-13-4	5-2-3
10	MONTREAL	60	29	25		6	64	170	179	17-12-3	12-13-3	2-7-1
11	NY RANGERS	58	28	25		5	61	173	169	11-13-3	17-12-2	5-4-1
12	BOSTON	57	27	26		4	58	161	209	16-12-2	11-14-2	5-5-0
13	FLORIDA	60	23	26		11	57	170	195	16-10-3	7-16-8	5-4-1
14	WASHINGTON	58	23	26		9	55	175	203	14-12-4	9-14-5	3-5-2
15	PHILADELPHIA	58	16	34		8	40	151	215	5-16-7	11-18-1	5-2-3
Western Conference
RK		GP	W	L		OT	PTS	GF	GA	HOME	AWAY	L10
1	DETROIT*	60	38	16		6	82	185	145	21-3-3	17-13-3	8-2-0
2	ANAHEIM*	59	35	16		8	78	190	151	18-5-5	17-11-3	5-5-0
3	VANCOUVER*	58	33	21		4	70	152	146	18-9-2	15-12-2	6-2-2
4	NASHVILLE	60	39	18		3	81	202	151	21-5-3	18-13-0	4-6-0
5	SAN JOSE	58	36	21		1	73	176	145	18-11-1	18-10-0	4-5-1
6	DALLAS	57	34	21		2	70	153	140	18-9-1	16-12-1	6-3-1
7	CALGARY	59	31	20		8	70	188	158	24-6-1	7-14-7	5-3-2
8	MINNESOTA	59	32	22		5	69	168	151	20-5-4	12-17-1	7-2-1
9	EDMONTON	59	28	26		5	61	160	171	18-11-2	10-15-3	5-4-1
10	COLORADO	58	28	26		4	60	186	182	16-13-3	12-13-1	4-6-0
11	ST LOUIS	59	24	26		9	57	150	178	13-15-3	11-11-6	4-5-1
12	CHICAGO	58	22	27		9	53	146	177	11-13-4	11-14-5	5-3-2
13	PHOENIX	59	25	31		3	53	159	203	13-13-2	12-18-1	2-7-1
14	COLUMBUS	58	23	30		5	51	144	179	14-13-3	9-17-2	5-5-0
15	LOS ANGELES	60	19	31		10	48	166	208	11-12-8	8-19-2	3-3-4

At the Break

Tomorrow the NBA All Star game will be played in Las Vegas. There are many great players on each team, but the best have been leading their teams to stellar records. Here are my predictions for division, conference , league and Finals champions

I'll start of with the Southwest Division. The division consists of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio,NO/Oklahoma Hornets and Memphis.

So far in the season, many are saying the Mavs have the division locked up with a 9.0 game lead on 2nd place San Antonio, but I'm not quick to judge. The Spurs are an elite team with many all stars and if they get some breaks, then they might pull out the division. One of those breaks though, is that the Mavs have to lose or get into a slump soon, which I don't think is going to happen. So I think the Mavericks will win the Southwest Division.

The second division is the Pacific Division. The division has Phoenix, the LA Lakers and Clippers, Golden State and Sacramento.

The Suns have a commanding lead in the division with a huge 10.0 game lead over 2nd place LA Lakers. But Steve Nash has been injured and now the Suns are in a slump. So I think the division will come down to whether Steve Nash will come back any time soon, but I think he will so I choose the Suns to take the Division.

The final division in the Western Conference is the Northwest Division. The division has Utah, Denver, Minnesota, Portland and Seattle.

So far in the season the Utah Jazz have the lead by 8.5 games over 2nd place Denver. Even with Carmelo and A.I, I don't think the Nuggets can dig themselves out of this hole and none of the other teams are going to make a move so I pick the Utah Jazz to win the Northwest Division.

In the Western Conference, all there is left is to pick the Conference winner. I believe the Suns and Mavericks will fight maybe to the final day of the season for that #1 seed, but I believe the Suns will finally go to the finals behind Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire.

Now for the Eastern Conference

The 1st division I'm going to preview is the Central Division. The division has Detroit, Cleveland, Indiana, Chicago and Milwaukee.

The always great Pistons are yet again leading the division, but not by much as the Cavaliers are only 2.0 games behind. Also, the Bulls and Pacers are each only 4.5 games behind. But because of all the Pistons experience and new acquirement Chris Webber, I'm going to pick the Pistons to take the Central Division.

Now the Atlantic Division which has Toronto, New Jersey, Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

The surging Raptors are one of the hottest teams in the league and are really coming together as a team. But the Nets are only 4.5 games behind, and with Vince Carter, anything can happen. But because of the Raptors almost unbeatable play at home and sub-par play on the road, I'll choose the Raptors to take the Atlantic Division.

Finally in the Eastern Conference there is the Southeast Division which consists of Washington, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta and Charlotte.

Washington and agent zero have gotten themselves a 3.5 game lead over 2nd place Orlando, but that isn't a lot. Also the rejuvenated Miami Heat have Shaq back and are only 4.0 games away from Washington. But I think if Gilbert Arenas continues his clutch play, than the Wizard should take the Southeast Division.

Now the Eastern Conference winner.

I think Washington, Detroit and Toronto will all have a shot and they all will have to battle. But again, because of all of Detroit's experience, they will take the Eastern Conference.

So that means that Phoenix and Detroit will have to battle for 1st place in the league. To me this is an easy one. Phoenix is the best team in the league and much better than the Pistons, so the Suns will be 1st place in the league come seasons end.

Now for the champion of the NBA Finals.

I believe that the Detroit Pistons and the Phoenix Suns will battle it out for the title of league champ. The Suns will finally give that championship to Steve Nash and the Suns will win in 6 games. Steve Nash will be the MVP of the Finals.

Well there are my previews. Enjoy the rest of the season and lets see how my predictions will do.

Forsberg Traded to Nashville

Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs faced the Philadelphia Flyers. The Leafs won 4-2, but on the Flyer's side , they lost so much more than 2 points.

Peter Forsberg was finally traded on Thursday, just before the Flyers game against the Leafs. Forsberg even took the warm-up skate but was then traded to the Nashville Predators. The Flyers actually made an almost even trade picking up Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent and a 1st and 3rd round draft pick. Depending on how the draft picks turn out, than this trade might swing in the Flyers favor.

This trade is huge for the Predators, who are 1st in the Western Conference, but only have deep playoff experience Paul Kariya, Jason Arnott, Steve Sullivan and now Peter Forsberg. A funny thing about Forberg, is that he has more playoff points(162) and Stanley Cups(2) than all of the Nashville Franchise combined(155 points and 1 Stanley Cup). Forsberg will make his debut will the Predators tonight against ST. Louis.

So what do I really think about this trade... well I think that the Predators will be going deep into the playoffs.

Montreal's Slump Continues

Yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens faced the New Jersey Devils. To any other team, this would of been another game toward their playoff push, but to the Canadiens, it was much more than that.

This game would turn out to be possibly the turning point in the Canadiens season. They started out good with a quick 1-0 lead, but then the Devils came back to win big - a final score of 2-5. It was more than just another loss in the Canadiens slump, as goalie Cristobal Huet had to leave the game with a strained muscle in his lower body. This is a big blow to the Canadiens as they are trying to get out of a slump, and losing their #1 goalie isn't how they're going to get out of it.

The Habs are now 1-6 in their last 7 games. It is a real cause for concern, because in the Eastern Conference, if you lose 5 or 6 in a row, than you will lose lots of ground in the playoff race. Another reason to be concerned is that they are losing by scores they shouldn't be losing to. Like against Florida. They lost 1-0. In the new NHL, their should be no excuse for a game like that. They now have sole possession of 8th place in the Eastern Conference, but #9 and 10 are only 2 points behind and each with 2 games at hand. Finally, the Canadiens are going to be without forward Alexei Kovalev for 3 weeks after an X-ray on his injured elbow.

So the Habs better turn it around soon, or they just might find them sell cleaning out their lockers pretty soon.

Top 3 Most Improved Players in the NHL

At this point in the season, teams are making trades, pushing for the playoffs and making moves for the future. These are the players that have contributed more than anyone and much more than last season. These are the top 3 most improved players in the NHL.

3. The 3rd most improved is Daniel Briere.

This year, Daniel Briere is on pace for his best year ever in terms of points with 97 points. He and Chris Drury have been the leaders of a rejuvenated Buffalo squad which is 1st in the league. If the Sabres continue on this pace, they will get the Presidents Trophy as leagues best team. This is a big improvement on last year as Briere had only 58 points( but he did only play 48 games) and the Sabres finished 4th. This year he will lead the Sabres far into the playoffs and maybe to the Stanley Cup Finals. That's why Daniel Briere is my #3 improved player of the year.

2. The second most improved player in the NHL is Vincent Lecavalier.

The 2004 Stanley Cup champ is having the best season of his young career. He has a league leading 37 goals and is tied with fellow teammate Martin S.T Louis for second place in the overall scoring race with 76 points as of February 14th. He also has led the Tampa Bay Lightning to 6th place in the Eastern Conference with 66 points. With 24 games left, Lecavalier can get the Lightning a higher seed in the playoffs and with S.T Louis and Richards, they may go deep into the playoffs. One final thing is that he is on pace for an amazing 107 points. That is why Vincent Lecavalier is the #2 improved player in the NHL.


1. The first most improved in the NHL is Sidney Crosby.

Sid the kid has been nothing short of amazing this year. He leads the league in assists and overall points and is on pace for 38 goals, 94 assists and an overall total of 131 points! If he gets this point total, then he will become the youngest player ever to win the scoring title at only 19! Last year he fought through a tough year an got 102 points, but now he has a good club and is dominating. The Penguins are 4th in the league with 67 points as of February 14th. He's been showing great resemblance to Wayne Gretzky, even more so than last year. His vision and ability to know where a play is going is almost as good as Wayne's. He has really developed from a hockey prodigy to hockey superstar. That is why Sidney Crosby is the #1 improved player in the NHL.

NBA All Star Game Losing Players

This weekend, Las Vegas will host the annual NBA All Star Weekend. It will be another great time except for one thing, no one's going!

It first started when 2 time MVP Steve Nash received an injured right shoulder. Then that followed by a Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer injuries. Then finally, just a couple days ago, Denver's Allen Iverson announced he would not participate in the All Star game. A funny thing about this is that all these injuries have come to Western Conference players.

This isn't good for the NBA. They want all their all stars healthy. At this point, the NBA should care less about the All Star game. If the NBA wants basketball to grow in not so good basketball places, then they need to do something. Maybe have them practice less, something. With all these all stars out of the lineup, many less people will watch the game.