Zach Parise

What a year the Blues are having. After starting out the season 6-7, the team has stormed back with a 23-6-7 record since Ken Hitchcock took the helm. The Blues have the lowest allowed shots per game, and the fourth best point percentage. All of these statistics are a huge improvement for the team. However, the team needs to keep working in order to stay the course for the playoffs, and needs to be active in order to have a chance at Lord Stanley's Cup.

Don't look now, but the New Jersey Devils are picking up steam in the Eastern Conference.

Winners of their last three, New Jersey has finally felt some traction underneath their spinning tires as they climb the slippery Eastern Conference leader board. 

Approaching the mid-point of the season, the Devils have a lot to look forward to in these next few weeks.

Maybe some home cooking was all the New Jersey Devils needed.

That plus a goalie switch, two shorthanded goals and three shootout scores.

Returning to the Prudential Center in Newark after a four-game road trip in which they went 1-3-0, the Devils rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to top the Ottawa Senators, 5-4, in a shootout Thursday night. 

The Colorado Avalanche have had an up and down year so far and are looking to try and get their season back on track.

One of the ways the Avalanche might consider in order to make this improvement is the trade market, where there are some seriously interesting prospects.

Looking at Colorado, their biggest need is in their forwards, both in size and scoring ability.

Here are some players that would help the Avalanche improve their team.

Mutually beneficial one for one trades are becoming a rarity in pro sports. Nowadays the asking price for star players is usually a package of draft picks, mid- or top-tier prospects, and perhaps one or a few NHL-caliber players if the star in question warrants them.

With the big names now off the UFA board, many teams are finished shopping, and are now working on the subtle nuances of rounding out their rosters.

Yet, there are some teams who have more pressing issues to deal with.

Some need to spend to get to the cap floor.  Some need to trim a little payroll.  While others have monster contracts to work out with big name RFAs.

* all cap numbers courtesy of capgeek.com.

The New Jersey Devils filed for arbitration today with Zach Parise, and eliminating the opportunity for Parise to become a restricted free agent on July 1st, essentially guaranteeing that he will be on the Devils' roster next season. 

That's all she wrote, folks. The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals are in the books, and over-anxious hockey fans now have from now until the beginning of October to speculate on everything from trades and free agency to the 2011 NHL Draft and potential lineups for their favorite teams.

The rumors surrounding draft picks are picking up steam with just a week left until the 2011 NHL Draft. Meanwhile, the Flyers spoke with Ilya Bryzgalov and his agent yesterday.

There is always a lot of speculation about trades when the draft and the offseason shows up.

There has already been a little bit written about one team that might have interest in trading with the Avalanche.

That got me thinking, if the Avalanche were to go the trading route this particular summer, who might be the ideal with whom to trade?

Every team's fans have that one player whom the masses can't help but love (and opponents usually can't help but hate). Sometimes it's the best player on the team, sometimes it's the guy who works the hardest and sometimes, it's that guy who just drives everyone on the other team crazy.

Whatever the case, that player almost always represents what the culture of the team is all about.

Here's a look at the fan favorite on every team in the league.