One of the biggest decisions the Maple Leafs must make this off-season is deciding what to do with Phil Kessel.

Although Kessel is a dynamic offensive player, the Leafs have failed to surround him with talent and the team has wasted Kessel's prime years. There are still good years left for Kessel, but with the Leafs embarking on a full-scale rebuild it's likely those years will go to waste in Toronto. And by the time the Leafs start to rise from the bottom of the league, Kessel will be hitting the decline phase of his career. The wisest decision, therefore, would be to deal him this summer.

But what type of return can the Leafs get for Kessel. Luckily for us, a superstar winger with a massive contract was traded within the past few years and can give us a good idea of what Kessel might fetch in a trade. I'm referring, of course, to Rick Nash.

Did you enjoy Crosby's return as much as I did? I had an inkling it was going to be pretty special, so I kept a running diary of what happened. Here it is.

Hat tip to my friend Mike for the excellent Photoshop.

With an uncertain future on Long Island, the Islanders, and owner Charles Wang, are looking at all available options to keep the once-great franchise in the greater New York area. It’s almost certain that the Islanders will leave Nassau Coliseum when their lease expires in 2015 because it is a horribly outdated excuse for an arena that resembles a poorly lit barn.

There are preliminary discussions between another Long Island county, Suffolk, and Charles Wang to determine if the Isles could fit there. Others suggest that the Islanders could move to either Queens or Brooklyn. I don’t know anything about Queens, except that Kevin James drives a mail route there, so I can’t vouch for its viability, but I do know that Brooklyn is absolutely perfect for the Islanders – at least culturally.

A large crowd by Islanders' standards

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The once proud New York Islanders franchise that was dynastic during the early 1980s is now skating on thin ice. The team has been consistently terrible on the ice for a number of years and the attendance figures at the Nassau Coliseum reflect that: the Islanders drew an average of just over 11,000 fans for home games last season, a figure lower than the number that show up in Phoenix.

All of a sudden the NHL has reverted back to the wild, brawl-filled days of the 1970s. Earlier in the week the Bruins and Canadiens exchanged pleasantries which ended in the Habs questioning whether they need an enforcer after the Big Bad Bruins savagely beat a few Canadiens during the final minutes of the game. The final score was also 8-6 Bruins – another indication that it was the 70s. The league did not hand down supplementary discipline, which prompted some pundits to question whether the league’s silent acceptance of the violence led to the melee that occurred in Long Island on Friday night.

The Islanders exploded and scored nine goals against the Penguins, which was overshadowed by a fight filled night that bears an eerie resemblance to the night Todd Bertuzzi sucker punched Steve Moore, leaving him severely injured. There were almost 350 minutes in penalties, a despicable sucker punch, a goalie-on-goon fight, and a player leaving the bench to jump into a fight.

I know this blog is titled Five Minutes For Fighting, which seemingly encourages ‘old-time hockey’ in all its forms, but as Puck Daddy succinctly put it, “there’s old time hockey, and then there’s a prison riot”. Well said. Friday night was not a good ol’ game where the refs let the boys settle their scores like men, it was a disgusting display of cowardice and goonery that has no place in the game of hockey. All this game lacked was a serious injury to prompt the View to explain to the world that this is the norm in the NHL.

Since the lockout the Leafs have made a yearly habit of turning it on over the last few months of the season, which is usually when they’re almost assured to miss the playoffs. Over the past five years the Leafs record is 54-38-8 after February. If they played at the same pace over the course of a full season they would record around 95 points. That’s good enough to secure a low playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

Unfortunately, these brief moments of success are responsible for a modest climb in the standings, which result in worse draft positions, something dreaded by the former Tank Nation.

This year the Leafs are 9-6-1 since February. They’ve won 3 in a row and 6 of their last 7. They are still in last place in the Eastern Conference, but not by much. Technically, they’re still alive for the playoffs, although, realistically they certainly aren’t. But it’s pretty amazing that a team that’s played as poorly as the Leafs have are only 12 points behind the eighth placed team. Is nobody else winning games in the Eastern Conference?

Their recent success also means they are slowly closing in on some of the other bad teams in the East. They are only four points behind the Lightning, the Hurricanes, and the Islanders; five points behind the Panthers; seven points behind the Rangers; and nine points behind the Thrashers. Gaining the points to surpass the Rangers and Thrashers is doubtful, but the Leafs play both teams twice before the end of the season, so it isn’t totally outlandish.

As you may know, I love CBC’s coverage of hockey every Saturday night. The one aspect of the show that needs to be changed is Mike Milbury’s presence. I understand they have him there to say stupid things and create fodder for the rest of the pundits, but enough. This man is colossally stupid. Even worse, when Al Strachan is on the hot stove, it’s like watching two infants debate the feasibility of time-travel. There’s a reason Milbury beat a man with his loafers, he’s certifiably bat-shit crazy.

First, how a man can ever get a job speaking to millions after going into the crowd during a game and beating a man with his shoe is beyond me. Amazingly, that isn’t even how he acquired the nickname “Mad Mike”. Yes, beating someone with their own shoe isn’t the craziest thing this man has done.