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Have to love Joe Thornton’s new nickname in San Jose; No Show Joe…the New York Post is reporting that Islanders GM Garth Snow informed Brian Burke that he is not going to trade the first overall pick. The Isles desperately need Tavares and, try as I may, I can’t envision a scenario where the team would pass up the marketing opportunities the young star promises…like most of you, I was glued to hockey all day Saturday. The Washington Capitals inability to score a goal had my jaw on the floor. The upside, long term, for the Caps has to be the maturity and development of Simeon Varalamov. While 2009 looks to bring fresh disappointment, the possibility of a solution to their goaltending woes appears to have materialized…the Montreal Canadiens finally made Tomas Plekanec a healthy scratch last night. The centre has been nothing short of a disgrace this season but has avoided censure due to the avalanche of criticism directed at Alex Kovalev…hmmm, seen that Carey Price before - last year against the Philadelphia Flyers. The young man is proving to be a negligible post season performer and last night’s performance was simply unacceptable at this level. Jaroslav Halak deserves the next start after stopping all five shots he faced in the third period. One problem, however. Halak was no great shakes in relief last year. The real problem traces back to Bob Gainey’s decision to move Cristobel Huet at last year’s trade deadline for a second round draft pick. The lack of a strong veteran presence in goal has hampered the Canadiens ever since…St Louis Blue Paul Kariya, inactive since Nov 5^th, is expected to start Tues in games four of their challenge of the Vancouver Canucks. The Blues were one of the best teams in hockey after Christmas but have been a terrible disappointment in the playoffs thus far…three of the Detroit Red Wings four goals against Columbus yesterday came on the power play. The Red Wings were very impressive and seem to have lost that bored, haughty look which was so apparent through February and March…Chris Osgood has stopped 45 of 46 shots in the series. Yesterdays shutout was his fourteenth in post season play…the Red Wings have been putting Nikolas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski on the ice every time Rick Nash hits the pond. Nash is minus two in the series so far…Chicago Blackhawk Jonathan Toews continues to be a revelation. The young leader has eerie poise and stoutly rallied his mates for a win after falling behind 2-0 to Calgary…Penguins - Flyers at 3pm on Fox today is must see TV. The Penguins hope to crush the Flyers playoffs dreams with a win this afternoon…Torry Holt is apparently all but signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. The dynamic wide receiver promises to be an outstanding pick-up at a moderate price. The Buffalo Bills, if they were solely focused on winning, would have signed the ex-Ram instead of bringing in the remnants of Terrel Owens…Daunte Culpepper reported to a Detroit Lion mini-camp at 260 lbs, down from the 290 he weighed as a starter last year. Daunte appears to be taking his career seriously but, of course, far too late in the day…five of our eight selections won at Woodbine yesterday. Heavily favoured Square Eddie floundered in the Lexington at Keenland yesterday with one of our selections, Advice, romping at 15-1. On today’s card I intend to play Charming Assassin in the fourth and Fight The Storm in the ninth….tickets went on sale yesterday for the June 20^th Vladimir Klitschko - David Haye heavyweight fight. An amazing 30,000 seats were sold on the first day. Pictures from Schalke Stadium in Germany show a throng “a mile long” queuing to buy tickets. Clearly, the German nation continues a love affair with the Brothers Klitschko that is virtually incomprehensible to the rest of the world…