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Scott Burnside of ESPN advises Toronto Maple Leaf fans to be prepared for a “big exodus” of players before the March 4^th trade deadline. In something akin to a miracle, could Jason Blake actually have played well enough in the past six weeks to be trade bait? Certainly Nikolai Antropov and Tomas Kaberle have one foot out the door…there’s just something grim about the St Louis Blues shipping Manny Legace, an all star last year, down to their AHL affiliate in Peoria…Adam Foote will miss the Colorado Avalanche’s next three games with a torn triceps muscle. When asked to comment, Coach Tony Granato remarked, “Adam Foote? Didn’t he retire like, years back?”…according to an ESPN players poll, Calgary Flame Jerome Iginla is the best leader in the NHL. No word on how many votes Mats Seldom received…top complainer on ice? Sydney Crosby in a landslide, according to the poll. Ironic, given Wayne Gretzky’s propensity to claim the same tag…the Detroit News alluded to a perceived frustration on Coach Mike Babcock’s part with the recent play of goalie Chris Osgood. The Red Wings have an interesting decision to make as they approach the trade deadline - will they leave their exceptional chances at a Cup repeat in the hands of Osgood and back-up Ty Conklin?…look, I was laughing when I bet the Dallas Stars, then languishing in the basement, at 125-1 to win the 2009 Stanley Cup. I’m not laughing anymore…six of Dallas’s ten goals last night, in their 10-2 blow-out of the New York Rangers, came in the third period. Guarantee you the Rangers will not take kindly to the Stars “pouring it on”. With Henrik Lundqvist battling the flu, the Rangers opted to leave Stephan Valiquette in goal for the entire game…the Pittsburgh Steelers will likely employ Charlie Batch as their back-up QB next season, a dramatic drop in talent level from current back-up, and soon to be Chicago Bear, Byron Leftwich…the Newark Star Ledger has reported the New Jersey nets are shopping Vince Carter and the remaining 33 million bucks on his contract. Who are they talking to? According to the paper..nah, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you (shhh, the Raptors)…in light of Alex Rodriguez’s 2003 positive test for steroids, do we have some insight on his recent love life travails? I mean, male genital shrinkage is one of the side effects of prolonged use and, well, I don’t think the Material Girl would be, based on her dating resume, enthralled if A-Rod was decidedly pee-wee in the category Madonna relishes…Mike & Mike of ESPN did themselves no favours with a fawning interview of Tiger Woods this week. How did the apolitical Tiger end up speaking at Barack Obama’s inauguration celebrations? The man has never made a meaningful political gesture or statement in his life. Guess he crawled out from under his billion dollar, jewel encrusted rock when he saw the coast was clear…I’ll always contrast Tiger and Michael Jordan with the sheer balls of a young Muhammad Ali yelling, “I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong!”, thereby flushing away the most productive years of his career…a NASCAR media poll of 198 journalists who follow the sport, a hootin’ and a hollerin’, found Carl Edwards the choice of the majority to win the 2009 Championship. The peculiar poll returned predictions that essentially mirrored the 2008 final standings. Media members don’t anticipate any changes in the top ten? That’s a bit hard to fathom and methinks the yokels should have tried to have a little more fun with their choices (like putting Dale Earnhardt Jr on top)…Woodbine released their 2009 Stakes schedule, all 22 million dollars of it, yesterday. Highlights include the million dollar Queens Plate on June 21^st and the two million dollar Canadian International on Oct 17th. ESPN will, like last year, televise the International along with the days other features, the E P Taylor Stakes and the Nearctic. The Breeders Cup will be run at Santa Anita three weeks later…Samuel Peter, heavyweight sort-of-contender, returns on ESPN March 27^th against Eddie Chambers. Peters was last seen surrendering his version of the heavyweight crown while sitting on his stool after absorbing punishment from Vitali Klitschko. The fall to ESPN status must be a shocker for Peter and his connections, but the down market address is the deserved verdict for the Nigerian who simply refuses to train…Australian Vic Darchinyan puts his three super flyweight titles on the line at the Honda Centre in Anaheim tonight in a much anticipated brawl with popular Mexican Jorge Arce. Darchinyan chilled the boxing world with his effortless destruction of the much hyped Cristian Mijares last November. Arce had lost his belts to Mijares and, on that basis, enters the fight tonight as a slight underdog. Both fighters, however, are riding superb win streaks and should produce a memorable slugfest…