NHL Eastern Conference News

The Hawks are in their worst slump of the season, and they hope meetings are the solution.

The Toronto Maple Leafs play four games in five nights this week. But do not look to Niklas Hagman to complain about the lack of rest.

The Senators' Jarkko Ruutu finds the net against the Flyers' Braydon Coburn and goalie Brian Boucher .

A battle in the race for the Atlantic Division title is on tap tonight in Newark, as the New Jersey Devils host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center.

Ryan O'Reilly and the resurgent Colorado Avalanche pushed aside yet another Eastern Conference opponent.

In its 10th season the Battalion had its most successful year ever as it won the Central Division crown, captured the Eastern Conference title and then played the Windsor Spitfires for the Ontario Hockey League championship.

The Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers will end 2009 with back-to-back games.

When the top team in the Eastern Conference and the worst one got together, the result was, unsurprisingly, a high-scoring blowout.

The Riverview High Royals edged the Louis-J.-Robichaud Patriotes 2-1 in Eastern Conference girls high school hockey play yesterday.

The Rangers and Islanders have stayed steadfastly on the fringes of the playoff race for much of the season, and after the Isles snapped a three-game losing streak, Scott Gordon made it clear what his team's goal is: to get to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Raiders , Prince Albert , Saskatoon , Calgary , Belarus After more than half a season of lessons and lectures, coach-GM Bruno Campese gave his Prince Albert Raiders a Christmas message Saturday night.

As we near the Christmas break, it is time to identify the biggest surprises and disappointments to date of the 2009-10 season.

Pick a team in the East; we have a player who figures to be in trade rumors. With the NHL holiday trade freeze in place from Dec.

Rajon Rondo trails Miami's Dwyane Wade by more than 500,000 votes, so there is no chance he will be elected a starter for the Feb.

Former Flyers captain Keith Primeau ended the greatest NHL game of this decade, according to SI.com . The Flyers' five-overtime thriller over the Penguins in Game 4 of the 2000 Eastern conference semis.

We are now through the first 32 games of the season, or about 39 percent. The Boston Bruins currently sit in second place in the Northeast Division, four points behind the Buffalo Sabres and are fifth in the Eastern Conference.

And they appear likely to make the playoffs. Detroit would be ninth in the Eastern Conference and out of the playoffs if the season ended today.

Peter Laviolette has traveled this road before and knows from experience there are no quick fixes for a team with broken parts.

With 21 teams spread around Russia, as well as single entries from Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan, the Kontinental Hockey League encompasses an enormous amount of territory in Europe and Eurasia.

Regrets? If John Stevens has a few, he didn't mention them in a conference call with reporters on Monday.