Brooksey's Headline Roundup Jan 6-13

By: Derek "Brooksey" Brookes

Amazing times in the NHL!  The Jets are going to spend lots of time in the sunny cities of the southeast division next season thanks the NHLPA.  As Jets fans we have to be excited at the extended stay in the eastern conference!  Sure we were all good to go to the west next year but as I see it there is nothing wrong with getting some extra eastern exposure.

If there is one thing we could go on forever about, it’s all the possible permutations you can make with the NHL divisions.  

I have to thank Jesse Spector from the Sporting News for coming out this week with what I think is the most interesting idea yet – 3 conferences!  I wonder where he got the idea…here? Or here?

There was an awesome sight in Buffalo this week.  The Jets bounced back with a much needed road win and their fans made it count afterward.  Winnipeg fans took over the HSBC Arena concourse after the game, freaking out some Sabres fans in the process.

Also on Saturday’s NHL schedule, the Islanders visited the Coyotes for a milestone moment in Shane Doan’s career as he had his first career hat trick.  That didn’t go unnoticed by the Rangers who are rumored to be interested in Doan.

The coaching casualties are up to 7 this year.  Former Moose coach, Scott Arniel was dumped by the Blue Jackets.  Another Moose alum, Randy Carlyle was fired Dec 1 by Anaheim.

The Jets were looking confident going into Boston but the bubble burst in the third period.  After outplaying the Bruins for 2 periods, the Jets simply never got out of the dressing room for the third and the reigning champs took 8 seconds to get back into the game.  

Saturday night a sensational story was posted on HF boards and quickly edited to remove much of the details but not before Winnipeg bloggers reposted on local forums.  It is an as yet unconfirmed open letter from Glendale mayor Scruggs to the NHL where she dumps the blame for the Coyotes mess on the NHL for asking too much money.  As if it wasn’t enough of a flying circus , captain Shane Doan recited his favorite Monty Python material to the press, proclaiming the Coyotes are not dead.  In related news, the Quebec arena project is gaining steam as a project engineer was hired. (Don’t worry, he speaks French)

On Thursday the remaining roster for the All Star game was released and Dustin Byfuglien earned a trip to Ottawa.  He really is the biggest star around here so it should come as no surprise.  Also today came the much anticipated Lawless awards, where Claude Noel took home the halftime hardware for Coach of the Year.  Quite an amazing accomplishment as the same judge recently gave the same team an F!  Keep up the hard hitting reporting, Gary!

Late edition update: Michael Cammalleri was dealt to Calgary for Rene Bourque. You know it's getting personal in Montreal when Cammalleri was pulled off the ice in the middle of a game and put in a cab for Calgary, less than 24 hours after he publicly called his team "losers".