I hate boring, defensive hockey so much I once proposed fining and banning defensive coaches. Of course, that was a little tongue-in-cheek, although sometimes that doesn't translate well on the internet because people take everything super seriously.

There is a lot of hullabaloo lately about the Lightning's use of the 1-3-1 trap, which started some murmurs that the league might even look into adding some sort of shot clock style system that requires teams to move from zone to zone in a certain time. That's stupid.

What's really stupid is that the Lightning are being killed for using the trap even though it hasn't affected how offensive of a team they are. They are still a top-10 offensive team even with the trap.

When people hear trap they immediately picture the New Jersey Devils. But there's a difference between being a defensive team because you know you can only score a maximum of two goals a game, and just being a good defensive team. The 1995 New Jersey Devils probably were more of the former, as they were a middle of the pack offensive team; but the 2000 New Jersey Devils were definitely the latter, as they led the league in goals.

Just because you use the trap does not immediately make you boring - just plenty of boring teams use it. The Lightning, however, are not one of them.

That's today's post at The Good Point.

Steven Stamkos is off the market. No need to continually refresh HockeyBuzz to find out the latest outlandish fable concerning who is soon to trade for the talented pivot.

Today the Lightning signed Stamkos to a five-year deal worth $37.5 million, which works out to an average annual cap hit of $7.5 million. Some might suggest he left some money on the table, but it’s important to remember that he was an RFA and couldn’t truly maximize his value as if he was a UFA.

This signing marks the first major RFA to re-sign with his club, leaving Drew Doughty, Shea Weber, Zach Parise, and Luke Schenn as the most talented players currently without a deal. It also marks an end to the various trade rumours and offer sheet speculation that happens when there is little to discuss during the summer.

Stamkos wasn't presented with an offer sheet because the reality was that it was a futile venture. The Lightning possessed enough cap space to match any offer another club could have imagined extending to Stamkos. And any notion of a trade was equally ridiculous because there are no teams that would possibly consider moving a 21-year-old franchise player who has already scored 119 goals in his first three seasons. Even if the signing means the Lightning spend a disproportionate amount of money on their forwards it doesn’t matter, you find a way to shed salary elsewhere. I understand it made for a good story, but let’s be realistic, you can probably count on one hand the players you would actually trade Stamkos for.

What’s really interesting about the Stamkos signing is what it means going forward.

I love history. I love thinking that one little thing could have dramatically changed everything that followed it. Maybe that's one of the reasons I love the concept of time travel as well. And because we're talking about time travel we may as well talk about the greatest time travel movie of all-time - Back to the Future.

Where is all this going? Really I just wanted to put a picture of Back to the Future up, so the preamble really only serves that purpose. But my latest post at The Good Point was published today and I examined what a Stanley Cup Final between the Sharks and the Lightning would have looked like. Alternate history. Dig it.

The second round of the playoffs wasn’t able to live up to the lofty expectations set by the fantastically exciting first round. The Eastern Conference Final match-up was set almost a week ago, while the Western Conference was only solidified after last night's big game 7 between the Wings and Sharks.

Thankfully, the Wings and Sharks prolonged their series, which at one point looked like it would be the third sweep of the second round. Not only does this add some drama and suspense to the second round, but I was away for a week and unable to post a conference final breakdown. Let’s first break down the Eastern Conference Final and tomorrow we’ll set up the Western Conference Final.

Brian Burke has publicly stated that he is not interested in a five-year re-build. Bolding acquiring Phil Kessel indicates as much. Whenever you trade two first round picks (and a high second!) you are basically saying, “draft schmaft”.

I don’t really blame him. The GM position for the Maple Leafs takes a large toll on a person. One year as the GM of the Leafs is equal to three human years. That means a five-year re-build will take 15 years off Brian Burke’s life! No wonder he wants this done quickly, he won’t be around to see it finished otherwise.

Thankfully, the Leafs have assembled a super management team of former GMs and the two-year extension signed by Dave Nonis ensures that the super best friends, Burke and Nonis, will continue to work together for the immediate future.

Dave Nonis’ decision to re-sign with the Leafs was welcomed news to me, as he’s clearly a very smart hockey mind. After the Leafs allowed JFJ to drown without even the most modest support I’m always thankful when the Leafs hire or keep a bright hockey mind. I loved when they had Joe Nieuwendyk and I even like Cliff Fletcher in an advisory role – even though his senility wasted draft picks on Jamal Mayers and Ryan Hollweg.

I worried Nonis would leave the Leafs after his contract expired for a higher position with another club, which was definitely in play since he was reportedly a candidate for the GM position in Tampa Bay. He’s already been the GM of a high-profile team (see Vancouver, people sometimes respect you), so I worried he wouldn’t be satisfied playing second fiddle somewhere else (even though that somewhere else is Toronto).

I’m sure this will not be the first time that a team has interest in the former Canucks’ GM. However, Nonis has stated that Toronto is the ideal situation for his family. Additionally, he says he does not want to leave Toronto with so much work left to be done. Burke and Nonis are trying to win a Cup you know. Aside from these two reasons to stay I believe that Nonis has a long-term future with the Leafs and I don’t just mean in an Assistant GM capacity.