Well if Devils fans got an early Christmas present today, I suppose Flames fans are hoping for a Boxing Day Blowout. While I'm still afraid that the org would just install Jay Feaster as the new GM (let's have a proper search, please), I'm on the Darryl's Gotta Go bandwagon. Or rather, jogging behind it, seating's pretty cramped up there. Failure to achieve the objectives required by the position. I'm indifferent about Brent; even if he deserves to be replaced, he can't really do any harm if he sticks around until the end of the year (unlike Darryl, obviously).

For the record: the winner of the MSM employee most willing to criticize Darryl Sutter when things were going generally well is -- the eligible field was small -- Eric Francis! True story. If nonsense came out of the GM's mouth, E.F. was pretty much the only guy to call "Nonsense". Runner-up is Bruce Dowbiggin, although he really picked his spots, and also seemed more interested in shit-stirring than anything. (More interested in shit-stirring than Eric Francis? Yes.)

The Flames are better than their 15th-place standing, but they are not good. It looks like it's going to be a long season, with the possibility of The Greatest Flame being traded but a lot of turmoil regardless. (Obviously the guy they should be shopping hardest is Kipper.)

Today's other thought, that occurred to me watching the beginning of 24/7 last night: What would it take for Alexander Ovechkin's contract to become an anchor? I quite agree with everyone who says it's too early to panic, and the bounces aren't going his way, and whatnot. That said, we as sports fans and we as humans are incredibly biased to believe that the way things were yesterday and today are they way they'll be tomorrow, all historical evidence to the contrary.

We just naturally assume that Sidney Crosby will be a Hart Trophy nominee until he's 35, but how sure are you that on December 23, 2013, he'll be one of the top 3 players in the league? Things change! At age 24, Jeremy Roenick's offense dropped by 20% and never recovered. He was a nice player for quite a while, but when he was about 21, Don Cherry said he thought JR was the best player in the league. He never got glossed like that when he was 27.

Look, Ovechkin has been worth far more than he's been paid so far in his career; he's incredibly valuable to the Caps and to the league. But if your take is a blind, "Well of course he'll be an MVP-type 60-goal threat for the foreseeable future!", I would consider your extreme confidence to be misplaced.

Oh, and tonight in Dallas, Go Flames. I'm not a tanker.