Fresh Links: Sabre Rattling Edition

The Buffalo Sabres are rattling into town tonight at 7:30 PM to face the Bruins . No Chad Johnson , though, he had to be silenced.

• Game day! Here's a projection on lines, and players to watch. [BruinsDaily] Begorrah! Niklas Svedberg is projected to get the start. [@AmalieBenjamin]


• Old friend "Hi, I'm Chad Johnson ," as you may recall, protested when TSN asserted that he had been brought in specifically to help the Sabres lose. [TorontoSun]


• Coincidentally, Chad was injured in practice before he could even take the ice for his new team, and may not return this season. It figures. [BuffaloNews]


• Meanwhile, the Bruins will be faced with yet more tough choices as David Krejci approaches his return to the ice. [BostonHerald]


• Should Claude Julien stay with his lineup that has recently worked out so well? [PatriotLedger ]


• Playing with the speedy Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak has changed Milan Lucic 's game.  [TheBostonGlobe]


• Would the Bruins benefit by giving Carl Soderberg a bit of press box duty? Look what it did for Daniel Paille... [CausewayCrowd]


• This month's successes are not all that different from last month's losses, and Tuukka Rask has been the pillar bolstering the Bruins. [MetroWestDailyNews]


• Yeah, the Bruins will make the playoffs. It is at that point that all the questions really emerge. [Boston.com]


• This sobering examination of the Bruins as they presently sit on the cusp of the playoffs points at inevitable and necessary off-season moves. Bonus: a similar assessment of the Canucks . [TooManyMenOnTheSite]

Elsewhere around the rink:

• Remember little fistbumping fan Liam Fitzgerald? He is in the running to be honored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. [Boston.CBSLocal]


• Remember that "30Games-30Nights" fan, Ron Suggitt? He'll be at the Bruins/Sabres game tonight, so be sure to say "hi" and buy him a beer. [CBC]


• Freshly reinstated Nazem Kadri is going to sit again after this blindside hit on Matt Fraser ... [TheHockeyNews] ...Oilers Captain Andrew Ference lowers the boom in return. P.S.- the Oilers won! [SportsNet]


• The NHL's emergency backup goalie rules (and "house goalies") have made for interesting stories, but look to the NHL General Managers to come up with a new solution. [TheHockeyNews]


• Potpourri: The NHL's best 5 and worst 5 teams, and quick takes from around the league over the weekend. [Grantland]


• Andrew Hammond , "The Hamburglar," has received a special gift from McDonald's restaurants. [SportsNet]


• What if the NHLPA does not approve a cap increase? Can it be put in place without them? [SportsNet]


• Here's an insight into the Swedish hockey player, and how his culture affects his play. (TRIGGER ALERT: Discussion of the Bruins loss to the Capitals.) [CSNWashington]


• One woman's take on the realities of being an NHL hockey wife: You'd better get used to upheval and uncertainty. [TheProvince]


• This sobering look at what happens to hockey enforcers after hockey is a sad reminder of the lurking problems of substance abuse and dementia. [DeadSpin]


• Not hockey related, but... An homage to former New England Patriot Vince Wilfork, who could always be counted on to git 'er done. [PatsPulpit]

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