Editorial

With 8 days left in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement nearing expiration, and a lock out all but almost a certainty, what will you do if there is a lock out? Will you give the NHL another chance?

Personally I will give the league another chance because I love hockey to much, not so much the politics of the game. But with a delay in the season once every six years is not that big of a deal to me. Ideally though there would be labor peace between both sides.

Anyway ...

These are guys I feel get less attention than they deserve, these guys are either grinders or defensive forwards that contribute a lot to a team that may need solid penalty killers.

Also let me say that these players may or may not be good contributors to a fantasy hockey team. If you have a deep team and want good plus/minus numbers these guys may be able to help you out.

Vladimir Sobotka, C, St. Louis Blues

Vladimir Sobotka ...

This is my list of the off-season winners and losers. And I am basing this information on the draft and free agency to date.

Winners:

Minnesota
What can I say that is not already obvious? Adding Suter and Parise makes them a dangerous team all of a sudden. One of the problems I saw with Minnesota was goal scoring and I think Zach Parise complements the Wild perfectly. It will be interesting to see if he plays with Dany Heatley or if they try to spread the offense ...