Hockey Trade Rumors

He’s 34 years old, hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2009 and is still trying to win his first Stanley Cup. Jarome Iginla and the Flames lost Tuesday night, but he was out there battling. He had one of the best scoring chances on Niklas Backstrom, a shot that hit the post during the Minnesota Wild’s 3-0 win. He fought Nick Johnson and was convincing enough in his argument that he was head-butted in the fight to earn a five-minute power play and match penalty for Johnson. But it was another loss for a Flames team that sits in 13th place in the Western Conference with a 6-7-1 record.

Q: I can’t see New Jersey Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello being interested in Sam Gagner, but the New York Islanders might be desperate enough. Do you think Islanders GM Garth Snow would give up a first-round draft pick for Gagner? In next June’s draft that is loaded with defenceman, a first-rounder has great value.

The question hangs precariously in the air with no imminent answer in sight.

James Reimer’s return appears no closer to fruition as the Leafs’ crease continues to wobble in his absence. Ron Wilson was forced to hook his starter for the second consecutive game on Tuesday as the Leafs dropped a 5-1 decision to the Panthers, the first time they’ve lost two games in a row all season – they were thumped 7-0 by the Bruins on Saturday.

Toronto goaltending currently sits third-worst in the NHL (3.37 goals against average, .888 save percentage), struggles that were clearly on display at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night.

Since our politics have become depressingly reasonable, Canadians looking for a fight are forced to pick sides on the issue of Don Cherry.

Cherry, who was always the first guy wading in, seems less and less inclined to punch back.

Over the weekend, he declined an honorary degree from Kingston’s Royal Military College after one faculty member wrote an angry letter and sent it to the local paper.

Surely, Wednesday was circled on somebody’s calendar, with the New York Rangers coming to town.

And maybe there was a bit of payback on the minds of a couple of Senators.

The object of the payback: Public Enemy No. 1 Wojtek Wolski— the Ranger whose hit knocked Daniel Alfredsson silly and right out of the Senators lineup.

Scott Gomez is a few strides closer to returning to the Canadiens’ lineup and head coach Jacques Martin is looking at a real-life game of musical chairs.

The injury bug continues to bite Toronto Maple Leafs centre Tim Connolly.

Connolly missed practice on Monday and head coach Ron Wilson told reporters that the veteran is out 10 days to two weeks with an upper-body injury sustained on Saturday.

Connolly, who signed as a free agent in the summer, started the year on injured reserve and missed eight games with an upper-body injury.