Matt Duchene

It is the battle of the basement dwellers tonight at the Dome with the 14th place Flames playing host to the 15th place Colorado Avalanche. The Flames enter tonight’s game coming off a 2-0 loss to the Blackhawks last night in Chicago. The Avalanche on the other hand, come into Calgary on two days’ rest, not having played since Sunday when they went down to defeat to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2.

The Isles went with Tavares and it certainly is looking like the right choice. He is one of the hardest working players in the National Hockey League and he is super competitive. He leads by example and makes those around him better.

But what about the rest of the 2009 draft?

Let's take a look at that draft and see where they are now.

Preview:

The Kings (7-6-2; 16 points) host the Avalanche (7-7-1; 15 points) today at 1. Capturing two wins in their back-to-back games in Canada the Kings return to the Staples Center where they will play 13 of their next 16 games. A slow start to the season landed the Kings in the basement of the Pacific division one point behind Dallas. Despite their positioning Los Angeles has played more consistently and is poised to make a run. The Avalanche beat the Predators and Blues in their last two games and have Gabriel Landeskog returning. Landeskog scored the game-winning goal in the third period when the Kings lost to the Avalanche, 3-1 in Colorado.

Jeff Carter and...

Just when you think they have a chance they completely fall flat on there face and break your heart, yes boys and girls these are our New York Islanders. Here is my weekly edition on all thing Islanders related. I am sitting on the couch with my iPad and with my house under going serious renovations; that's why this is not a video edition. But that doesn't mean we can't talk Islanders hockey!

So with the Islanders playing a pre-season game in Brooklyn, is it becoming clearer that Wang is smartening up and saying "Screw Nassau County?" Or Is this the boy who cried wolf again and Charles wants to work with Nassau County and the same people who have screwed him over since 2006? I personally would love to see something happen in Queens and maybe build in the old Shea Stadium or go to Bloomberg and propose your Lighthouse idea to the Iron Triangle (Flushing section). In the end I hope that this pre-season game becomes a sell out.

With the trade deadline approaching, how fitting is it that Mark Eaton scores a game winner? That means we now get a 3rd round pick instead of a 5th rounder for him. Many teams will be scouring for a bottom 6th dman veteran with playoff experience and Garth should seriously consider trading Eaton.