Several members of the Toronto Maple Leafs were in attendance when the Dallas Cowboys gutted out a 20-19 win over the Miami Dolphins in Dallas yesterday. Watching the game, it appeared as if a few of the players were caught taking pictures of the legendary Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and who could blame them, right? The Maple Leafs were in town awaiting Friday nights match with the Dallas Stars, who, not unlike the Leafs, have gotten off to a surprisingly great start to the 2011-12 season. Toronto enters tonight’s tilt with a record of 12-8-2 while the Stars have been equally good at 13-8-0. That said, both teams have struggled of late, with Toronto going 4-5-1 in their past ten, while Dallas owns a 5-5-0 record in their past ten games. These two teams last met November 22nd of 2010, with

On paper the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars doesn’t look too bad. First of all, Columbus managed to out-shoot Dallas by a margin of 24-11 in the first two periods and 40-18 overall. Second, the Blue Jackets outhit the Stars by a margin of 32-20 and third Columbus did manage to capitalize on one of their five power play opportunities, but when you consider the Blue Jackets are now a combined 0-5-1 on the season, it’s time to start panicking, isn’t it? Long time captain of the Dallas Stars Mike Modano tweeted (@9modano) “Rick Nash please ask for a trade..!” after the Stars victory, leaving many NHL fans wondering if Modano is right—maybe Nash should ask for a trade out of Columbus? This summer, Columbus Blue Jackets Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations and General Manager

With Chris Drury expected to accept a buyout from the New York Rangers on Friday, New York looks to be positioning themselves to take a good run at the NHL’s premier free agent, Brad Richards. Richards is expected to have as many as 20 different NHL teams interested in him, but in the end there are only a few teams that have the cap room and competitive roster in place to attract the likes of Richards. At 31-years old Richards is no spring chicken. That said, there is no other free agent player in the class that Richards is. That is why Richards is expected to garner a contract in the $6.5-$8.0 million range with a term as high as nine years. Richards looks to be set on playing for a Stanley Cup contender, regardless of the money thrown at

With the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff hopes looking slimmer and slimmer with every day that passes, the focus for many Maple Leaf fans has been next season. In order to avoid a similar fate (likely missing the playoffs this season), the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have to do a couple of things differently in 2011-12. First, as I pointed out in an article last week, the Maple Leafs must avoid extended losing streaks. The Buds got off to a great start this season winning four straight, giving Maple Leafs fans hope that maybe this was the year the Buds would make the playoffs. Unfortunately, an eight game losing streak in late October and early November put the Blue and White behind the eight ball, from which they will likely not recover from. Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in dire need of a centre. Potential unrestricted free agent Brad Richards would be a perfect fit. Only trouble is, according to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, signing Richards is unlikely. To support his claim, Simmons refers to “an old Tampa source” that says Richards has “no real interest in Toronto.” Now, don’t get me wrong, Richards never said he didn’t want to come to Toronto, he apparently just shook his head was asked about Toronto as a possibility. Word on the street has always suggested that Richards would like to remain a member of the Dallas Stars, but isn’t this almost always what Pending UFA’s say anyways? Simmons’ article goes on to suggest that Richards top choices would be Dallas, Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers and perhaps even the Carolina Hurricanes. Of

While there is no guarantee that Dallas Stars forward Brad Richards will hit the free agent market there is no denying that if/when Richards does hit the free agent market the competition for his services will be fast and furious. Through 56 games with the Dallas Stars Richards has registered a total of 24 goals and 63 points, good enough for seventh overall in the scoring race and enough to make Richards a very rich man this summer. Unlike many NHL stars that are one-dimensional, Richards brings a unique combination of playmaking ability, goal scoring, defensive prowess and character. Richards ranks 15th in goals (24), fifth in assists, 24th in power play goals, tenth in shots (215) and a faceoff percentage that ranks him 41st in the league at a 51.4% success rate. Clearly, when it comes to this summers