Friday Five: Week of Waivering

With all the moving and shaking on the waiver-wire, we get to the Friday Five with probably the biggest fish on the waiver-wire as the weekend starts up....if he makes it that far.

1. Evgeni Nabokov signed with the Red Wings, but has to go through the waiver process. Where will he end up??

There's a lot of things going on about how the Red Wings will keep them and the deal they're going to strike up with the New Jersey Devils, who have first priority of the team. However, there's the obvious candidates of the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators, but the San Jose Sharks could be in the market-- which would be ironic when it comes to Nabokov leaving the Sharks because he was low-balled in the contract negotiations. But at $570k, he's very affordable for any team that could need a veteran presence in net. Nabokov hits waivers at 12:01 PM ET Friday.

2. The St. Louis Blues seemed to be bit by the waiver bug, as they've had two guys plucked from waivers for them. Who did they piss off to have something like this to happen??

The Blues seem to bring about the affordable contract that's very enticing to other teams out there. Yet, while the Marek Svatos loss hurt, I don't think that Kyle Wellwood getting plucked off is too much of a big deal. Even so, you have to feel bad for the Blues-- who have been bit by the injury bug in a bad way, and just needed to get some more guys in order to stay competitive while guys like TJ Oshie and David Perron are on the mend. Plus, it seems that Jaroslav Halak and the rest of the team hit a bit of a skid, but have gotten a little bit back on track since then. Luckily, the Blues are only three points out of the 8th spot in the West and no one seems to want to take control of the final playoff spot, which could suit the Blues fine if they can keep playing consistently.

3. Could the coaching change in New Jersey really have turned the Devils around??

While they are 23 points out of a playoff spot, the coaching changes seems to have brought back the Devils in some aspect. The Devils have won four of their last five and scored 20 goals in those games. Martin Brodeur has had a bounce-back to sorts, while Ilya Kovalchuk finally woke up a slight bit during this. While they won't make the playoffs and actually ruin their chance to get the first overall pick, but they will do their best to save face and try to actually show they're a better team than 2010 showed this season.

4. Don Cherry says a new head shot rule isn't needed, it's just more respect between players. How crazy is he??

To be honest, and I may be an apologist for Cherry, but he's right to a point. The respect between players isn't there anymore and that's something that should be spotted when you see a lot of these plays that result in serious injury. Now, not only is it up for the NHL to maybe define the head shot a little better and clearer, but the NHLPA has to step up and talk to their membership about the lack of respect there. Question why they would go out and take out a vulnerable guy, even though both guys are in the same membership and are just trying to make a living playing a game. While there's a rule needed, Cherry is right when it comes to respect being a focal point, as well.

5. The All-Star captains are Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom. People are doing mock drafts for who's going to get picked in the pick-up game format. Biggest question-- who's picked last??

Scientifically, it really depends on how the picks go. We've all played some kind of pick-up sport in school or recreationally that you usually try to take advantage of bad picks because of friendships, but you also adapt to the pick of the other captain. My two picks for the last pick are Brent Burns and Claude Giroux. With Burns, there's a lot of good defensemen and he's probably lost in the fold when it comes to the other all-stars. Giroux could also get lost in the fold, but I don't think as badly as Burns would. Giroux is a solid player, but is he better or more revered than other skaters on that list?? Probably not, but he'll be a good addition and may get picked towards the bottom. If I had to pick on, Burns would be my ultimate last pick.

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That's another week and if you have any topics during the week when it comes what you want to see in the Friday Five, Scotty.Wazz@Gmail.com is the place to send stuff to and I'll do what I can to touch on them at the week's end.

Crosby's Plight Could Be For The Best

Dave Shoalts of the Globe and Mail put out a story saying that Sidney Crosby would not attend the All-Star Game because the NHL hasn't be stringent enough when it comes to head shot. Crosby, as you know, as been out since January 5th due to concussion issues; many say because of the shot he took from David Steckel, then aggravated from a hit by Victor Hedman.

The Hockey News even went so far as tweeting that Crosby should be applauded for standing up for an unpopular opinion, showing he's a true captain. That's a bit too far in one direction, but he shouldn't be deemed as a whiner, as I'm sure many have stated on the internets.

The point in all of this is the name-- Sidney Crosby and the event-- the All-Star Game. Very few people would have the same pull or command the same kind of publicity as Sidney Crosby would. If it was someone who just barely got into the All-Star Game, like Tobais Enstrom or even a little bit of a bigger name, Martin St. Louis or Steven Stamkos-- it wouldn't get this much talk across the land. However, it was Crosby and because he's one of the NHL's top stars; he's going to get the attention for just opening his mouth.

However, this isn't a bad thing. In fact, Crosby getting knocked in the head could be the best thing for the game. While I wouldn't wish ill-will on Crosby regardless of how much I dislike him or his team, but the fact he's stepping up and speaking out on it-- the NHL could probably call a tighter game and actually enforce head shot penalties and suspensions. Crosby does have a lot a pull when he speaks and, like it or not, the fact he's stepping up-- the NHL HAS to take notice of it. They don't want to lose their star player or any other star player to something like this again.

Granted, many people are bring up the Marc Savard/Matt Cooke incident and wondering if Crosby stood up AGAINST his teammate when that happened. He actually did make some point, but not nearly the amount of noise that he is doing now. Which is too be expected, because first off-- you don't want to go against a teammate because you have to see him everyday and you have to play alongside him; you don't want to divide the room. And second, it actually happened to him and he's experiencing the side-effects from it. It's completely different when you watch an incident like that happen and then have it actually happen to you.

The end all be all is this-- the NHL needs to do something now to clearly penalize head shots and to explain why something is a head shot and something isn't a head shot. Personally, I don't think the Steckel hit was intentional on Crosby, but it was something that was anything but incidental. Stuff happens and you just have to deal with the consequences afterwords. The NHL said that the hit was kosher, so now it's how to do damage control from these comments.

For me, this whole thing is a fine line. You have to keep the hitting in the game, but for some reason they keep getting more and more borderline by the hit. Finding the balance is something that I don't think will be achieved and I don't envy who has to set the parameters when it comes to what's clean and what's not.