Hi everyone! The expansion draft has come and gone, and of course, I had to sit down to watch it all live.  Have to admit that it made the entire NHL awards show much more interesting than usual. I’m actually pulling for the expansion draft to become an annual event, so much it improved the usually putrid awards ceremony.  Even the lame jokes seemed a little less hokey. I’m a little surprised at the players who were available, like Jonathan Marchessault, but good for Vegas picking him (and Reilly Smith) up, and boo to Florida for obviously not taking any of the proceedings seriously and letting two of their best (and cheapest!) take off for nothing.  I’m glad Montreal only lost Alexei Emelin, but I am a tad confused by what Marc Bergevin’s plans are for the Habs’ defense.  Man, this is going to be one OLD blueline with Jordie Benn, David Schlemko, and Jeff Petry at 30 years old, Shea Weber at almost 32, and Andrei Markov pushing 40.  Who is going to replace these guys when they start getting too many gray hairs in their beards?  Not that Beaulieu and Sergachev were great prospects, but trading them still seems like a risk to me, unless Bergevin has some plan no one is aware of, but I do like the addition of Jonathan Drouin.

Anyway, back to the reason you’re all here this week… one new addition to the site this week is a 1977 article about the night Philadelphia’s Tom Bladon ripped apart the Cleveland Barons’ defense and scored 4 goals and 4 assists en route to an 11-1 shellacking.  You can check it out here.

Also be sure to head on over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame to find out why Darcy Rota was once the target of an on-ice assassination attempt.  Sounds like something from a movie, right? Rest assured, it is all too real, and I have the photographic proof right here.

Until next time, stay gold!