Is Fighting Near The End Of A 4-0 Blowout Pointless?

Fighting is always going to be a part of hockey, and that fact alone will always be up for debate. Certainly, dropping the gloves with just about two minutes remaining in a 4-0 blowout is not going to help the side in favor of fisticuffs being involved in NHL hockey.

Thus was the case in the Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames game on the league's opening night of action Thursday. The Oilers were large and in charge of this game, exhibiting some brilliance in between the pipes from Nikolai Khabibulin and tremendous offensive prowess from rookie Jordan Eberle.

But with the game already in the books, Edmonton's Steve MacIntyre and Calgary's Raitis Ivanans decided to put their own stamp on the contest. for Ivanans, it only added further embarrassment to his team.

For MacIntyre and Ivanans, this is what they do for a living in the NHL and have to drop the gloves in order to be of any value to their respective organizations. But as true enforcers, they should also understand that there is a justifiable time and place to have these heavyweight fights. Near the end of a 4-0 blowout is not that time, especially when it appeared MacIntyre was the more eager party prior to the gloves actually being dropped. His team was going to win the game handily - move on.

Granted, this wouldn't be an issue if Ivanans hadn't been rocked with a knockout blow that hit its mark by MacIntyre. If both men were separated by the linesmen and skated off the ice on their own accord, there would be no discussion. But watching Ivanans have no control over his own facilities makes it even more pointless for the fight to have occured in the first place.

Thrashers Pavelec Collapses Early In First Period Of Season Opener

UPDATE: Pavelec was taken to the hospital and has regained consciousness. He will be held overnight for observations. There is still no information as to what exactly caused Pavelec's blackout during the game.

The Thrashers managed to rally against the Capitals and put together an impressive 4-2 win over the defending President's Trophy winners in their season opener.

ORIGINAL: Some scary things can happen out of the clear blue in sports, and that was the case very early on during the Atlanta Thrashers' season and home opener against the Washington Capitals Friday. At 2:25 into the first period, the play was whistled down in the Thrashers offensive zone. Meanwhile, goaltender Ondrej Pavelec collapsed in his goal crease on the other end of the ice. There were no players around him and all available medical personnel was called in to help stretcher him off the ice.

Chris Mason, who was signed as an unrestricted free agent over the summer for the next two years, filled in for the Thrashers and surrendered a goal less than one minute later. Pavelec did not face any shots during his playing time.

Get Out Of My Crease 2010-11 NHL Regular Season Predictions

The puck dropped this afternoon on the 2010-11 National Hockey League, which is far greater sports news than the MLB playoffs and the upcoming fifth week of the NFL season. With that said, it's time for me to drop some predictions here and flesh out how I believe the 2010-2011 regular season standings will look six months from now in April.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

1. Pittsburgh Penguins

2. New Jersey Devils

3. New York Rangers

4. Philadelphia Flyers

5. New York Islanders

Northeast Division

1. Buffalo Sabres

2. Boston Bruins

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

4. Montreal Canadiens

5. Ottawa Senators

Southeast Division

1. Washington Capitals

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

3. Atlanta Thrashers

4. Carolina Hurricanes

5. Florida Panthers

Final Regular Season Standings

1. Pittsburgh Penguins

2. Buffalo Sabres

3. Washington Capitals

4. New Jersey Devils

5. Tampa Bay Lightning

6. Boston Bruins

7. New York Rangers

8. Atlanta Thrashers

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9. Philadelphia Flyers

10. Toronto Maple Leafs

11. Montreal Canadiens

12. Carolina Hurricanes

13. Ottawa Senators

14. Florida Panthers

15. New York Islanders

Western Conference

Central Division

1. Detroit Red Wings

2. St. Louis Blues

3. Chicago Blackhawks

4. Columbus Blue Jackets

5. Nashville Predators

Northwest Division

1. Vancouver Canucks

2. Colorado Avalanche

3. Calgary Flames

4. Minnesota Wild

5. Edmonton Oilers

Pacific Division

1. Anaheim Ducks

2. San Jose Sharks

3. Phoenix Coyotes

4. Los Angeles Kings

5. Dallas Stars

Final Regular Season Standings

1. Anaheim Ducks

2. Vancouver Canucks

3. Detroit Red Wings

4. San Jose Sharks

5. St. Louis Blues

6. Chicago Blackhawks

7. Colorado Avalanche

8. Phoenix Coyotes

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9. Los Angeles Kings

10. Calgary Flames

11. Columbus Blue Jackets

12. Minnesota Wild

13. Nashville Predators

14. Edmonton Oilers

15. Dallas Stars

Cammalleri Gets One Game Suspension For Slash

Eventually, a day will come when players in the National Hockey League understand that sticks were not introduced to the game to go slapping away at the other human beings on the ice. Unfortunately, that day is not today.

In an exhibition games between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders on Oct. 2, Habs left wing Michael Cammalleri became upset with the Islanders first round pick back in June, Nino Niederreiter, after a hard check near the boards. He thus decided to swipe his stick across the face of Niederreiter and followed that up with a slash the back of Niederreiter's left foot. The video of the incident can be seen below, with tremendous French commentary to accompany it:

As a result of this infraction, Colin Campbell held a conference call with Cammalleri earlier today to dish out a punishment on top of the five-minute major and game misconduct he received during the actual contest. Campbell dished out a one game suspension, which will also cost Cammalleri a day's pay of $32,258.06 to be placed in the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. 

Preseason Performance Earns Fedotenko Deal With Rangers

When most players agree to join a team on a tryout basis during the preseason, it's probably not going to work out when cuts need to be made. Plenty of them have occurred in recent weeks to players that otherwise wouldn't have had any trouble inking actual deals in previous yearss. But when it comes down to proving themselves in this tryout capacity, a player really needs to go above and beyond.

For the New York Rangers, Ruslan Fedotenko most certainly did that. Throughout the Rangers' six-game exhibition schedule, Fedotenko established himself as a reliable scorer who led the team in points (seven) and developed a great deal of chemistry on the team's third line with agitator Sean Avery and young hopeful Derek Stepan.

The cap-cautious Rangers did not have a ton of wiggle room under the $59.4 maximum allowable salary to sign the 31-year old Ukrainian native. But the two parties agreed on a one year deal worth $1 million, which is $800,000 less than he earned in a down year with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.

This signing may have less of a financial impact if reports are true from The New York Post's Larry Brooks about Vaclav Prospal's right knee injury status. Brooks' sources have indicated to him that the rest Prospal is receiving over a mandated two-week period may not cure his ailments and season-ending surgery could be required to fix the problem. Prospal re-signed with the Rangers this summer on a one year deal with a base salary of $1.08 million and bonuses totaling $1.4 million. If placed on long-term IR, the Rangers would be free to spend his $2.48 million in total compensation elsewhere.