Boston send Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverely and Ryan Button to Dallas for Loui Eriksson, Matt Fraser, Joseph Morrow and Reilly Smith.

Some big moves on the 1st day of free agency

Alfredsson leaves Ottawa after 17 years to join the Wings who also add Weiss
Toronto add Clarkson and Columbus add Horton,i'm glad the they've moved to the east as the Blue Jackets look to have a strong young up and coming team.
As for the blackhawks they've lost Stalberg and Emery but they've resigned Handzus and Rosival.

One big trade today sees the Sens trade for Bobby Ryan to replace Alfie

The 'Builn Wall' is back in Chicago after signing a 1 yr deal. Emery would have been my prefered choice but guess he wanted to moveon and chose Philly due to Crawford claiming the No.1 spot. Wonder if Khabibulin has been brought in to also help Annti Raanta who the Hawks organisation have high hopes for?

I see the Bruins have now signed Igilna who he chose to snub for the Pens, think the Bruins will miss the Horton & Peverley though.

Big blow for New Jersey as Kovalchuck has retired from the NHL and moved back to Russia to be with his family.

I can see more and more Russians doing the same in years to come as they can make the same money in the KHL as they make in the NHL without the problems of moving to a strange country and learning a new language.

For me it's another black mark against Bettman as the lockout gave the Russians a chance to play in the KHL and they now know what it's like.

Hawks trade Carcillo to the Kings for a 6th round draft pick. Probably best they could do with his injury record.

Hawks are on the look out for a 2nd line centre according to coach Q in an interview.

Chicago have been spending some money in the last few days locking up Crawford and Hjalmarsson to long term deals that come to 10 mill a year for them both.Hopefully the cap will be going up a lot in the next few years or the Hawks could be in trouble down the line

Pre season games started this weekend.At least this season we won't have to wait until January to see some hockey

Season starts tonight with 3 games.Hawks start against the Caps at home.

Hawks start their defence of the Stanley Cup with a 6-4 win against the Caps.

Hawks look a good for another strong tilt at the cup along with the usual suspects of Kings, Sharks & Canucks being up there again along with the Yotes, Ducks & Blues. Be interesting to see how the Av's go under Roy's leadership. Think its going to be a tight conference from top to bottom.

In the East think again the Pens will be the dominant force but not sure how the Bruins will fair after the changes they've made but still think they'll be up there along with the Wings who I think have a real strong shout (can't believe they are in the East now). Think the Caps and Rangers seasons will follow the usual paths too with the former promising much but falling short and the latter just failing again unless they can get it together. Others to contend but maybe not stay the pace will be the Habs, Leafs and Sabres.

3 games into the season and the Flyers sack their coach replacing Laviolette with Berube.

I forgot my prediction this year,i'm going for a Pittsburgh/San Jose final this year but i would love a Wings /Hawks final.

The Sharks have started very strong again but we've seen it before where they are dominent until play off time then fall apart and as ususal the Rangers are a total mess. According to reports the Flyers were going to sack Laviolette last season but because of the shortened season wanted to let him have pre season but they've now decided to cut him due to issues within sounds like a player revolt.

I really wouldn't bet against a Wing v Hawks final either.

It's now a month into the new season and the Blackhawks are doing ok so far,they don't seem to have a cup hangover that some teams have had in the past.Colorado are the big suprise with only 1 defeat in their 11 games played.

Good winter classic yesterday with over 100 thousand watching the Leafs beat the red wings.Looking forward to watching the Hawks play the Pens outdoor in march,hopefully they play better than last time they played outdoors when they lost to the Wings in 09.The Pens/Hawks game could be a stanley cup final preview as both teams are looking good in the East and West.

"We're all going to the Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup.........."

Shame the Blackhawks didn't make it......but we'll be back next year !!!