As I said to California, please to be making the hockey season stop sucking now? In addition to my two teams having shakey starts (and that's being waaaaaay generous to the Penguins and rather insulting to the Bears, who have at least won a few even if they haven't yet kept it consistent for a good long run,) the Anaheim Ducks have just put Ilja Bryzgalov on waivers.

The NHL is reporting it here, and the long and short of it is Bryz saying goodbye on Thursday to his team after their 6-3 win, and Hiller coming in from in from Portland (ME!) Bran Burke is claiming that it's to give him a chance to be the starter everyone thinks he is, but I'm unsure what team's going to pick him up.
2/3 of the Hlog Pensbrain (Elly and I) were surmising that Tampa Bay might, and if he was younger, it would have made sense for New Jersey to take him as a replacement for Brodeur, but at 27, Bryz's a little old to wait for Marty to retire. Some sort of hope rises that the Penguins might actually step back and say "Yes, this is a good idea," but that means that Fleury or Sabou would be out, and as they've both done decent things in the last few games, that makes it difficult to cut one of them. I could see Sabou going back to Wilkes-Barre, perhaps, but I don't think they'd outrightly scrap him at this point.

Of course, if they did want to pick Bryz up, I'm also afraid they might play the "Make More Cap Room!" game and screw some other people over somehow. And who would be easier to screw than the guy who's been warming your bench for the past what, 5 games?

You know, only the guy who scored the game winning goal for Canada in the IIHC World Cup earlier this year.


Say it ain't so, Coach T.

And for the love of all that is holy, don't Mayotte Bryzgalov. Let him play some goddamned hockey.