Shrapnel - 5/24/11

Perhaps we are living in, somehow, a slightly more perfect world after the Rapture That Wasn't - after all, we finally saw Boston take a lead and hold on to it last night, even though they were heavily outshot by Tampa Bay. They didn't even have to get this one in OT, the way they squeaked out about 2/3 of their wins before this series! Part of that is because Tim Thomas was balls to the walls last night (if you didn't watch his post-game interview on Versus, go grab it - he's exactly the right combination of humble, happy, and funny), and part of it was simply a lot of good hard work by the Bruins.

Good. I hope Tampa matches them right back in game 6 - if there was a series that felt like it deserved 7 games, it's this one.

(Oh, and Mike Smith didn't look bad at all, did he? Did we mention he's a UFA this summer? Hmmm...)

In Memorial Cup news, the Saint John Sea Dogs put themselves into the final with a win over Owen Sound in overtime, 3-2. CBJ prospect Mathieu Corbiel was on the bench again as Gerard Gallant rides starter Jacob DeSerres - a decision you can't fault him for, but it would be nice to see Corbiel get a little playing time for the experience, if nothing else.

In "Aw, too bad for you" news, St. Louis 2010 first round pick Vladimir Tarasenko will be staying in the KHL for at least another season. My heart bleeds, truly.

Did you know that 32 years ago today, the Islanders won their first of four Stanley Cups?

Speaking of the Islanders, it looks like Doug Weight, most recently their captain, will hang up his skates today.

Out in Pittsburgh, it appears that Allan Walsh is working on getting Pascal Dupuis and Mike Rupp re-upped with the Penguins. Amazingly, he has yet to announce a new hashtag for either player on Twitter. Maybe he just does that for goalies. 

Jumping back to a little bit of Jackets news, it seems DBJ isn't thrilled with the idea of Todd Richards coming to Columbus. I see his points, but I suspect that he's a better potential fit as an assistant than some might think.

Flyers captain Mike Richards gave a surprisingly candid interview yesterday to the Philly Courier-Post, and Broad Street Hockey has an interesting analysis.

In the continuing saga of the Winnipeg / Atlanta / Kansas City / Portland / Las Vegas / Seattle / Insert potential NHL market here Thrashers, Icethetics has a neat look at the saga as a fellow Southern hockey fan.

On the other side of the coin, Behind The Net is taking a look at the history of professional hockey in the 'Peg. Even better? He's skipping Part I and going straight to Part II. THIS IS THE NEW MATH.

Hockey Prospectus (formerly Puck Prospectus) has released their list of the top 100 draft prospects.

In other news, it appears the salary cap will go up. It's just a matter of if the NHLPA votes to goose it with the 5% inflator or not.

The Dallas Stars are thinking about hiring Mike Keenan as their next head coach? Sure. Yeah. Good luck with that!

With San Jose against the wall tonight in Game 5, the guys at Fear The Fin are preparing for an ugly matchup, while the Canucks just want to finish their business.

Last but not least, I like finding contrasting views of some of the prospects we've been profiling - here's Matchsticks & Gasoline's take on Sven Bartschi, who could be a potential target for the Jackets as well.

Wow, that was a lot of links that had almost NOTHING to do with the Blue Jackets. I guess we'll have to hope that tomorrow will be more relevant, huh?