NHL Realignment: Lebron and D-Wade explode

The NHL introduced a new division alignment that they plan to use in the future. The set up is kind of odd and that it is like baseball's old realignment where the conferences are not equal. The Eastern conference will consist of two eight team divisions while the West will have two seven team ones This proposal had been blocked in the past because of playoff chances not being equal for each team but instead of the top four teams making the playoffs like in the last plan; only the top three in each make it and the last four are wild card spots. I personally like this plan because it places more importance on winning your division instead of just having a good record. The Central division is a little odd because it features the Florida teams and Boston while the Atlantic division has the Blue Jackets, I think that Boston could easily be switched with Columbus but who really cares. Here is your proposed NHL Divisional realignment:

Pacific	Mid-West	Central	Atlantic
Anaheim	Chicago	Boston	Carolina
Calgary	Colorado	Buffalo	Columbus
Edmonton	Dallas	Detroit	New Jersey
Los Angeles	Minnesota	Florida	New York Islanders
Phoenix	Nashville	Montreal	New York Rangers
San Jose	St. Louis	Ottawa	Philadelphia
Vancouver	Winnipeg	Tampa Bay	Pittsburgh
		Toronto	Washington

NBA Recap
The Magic took care of the 76ers in a low scoring affair for their first road-win in 10 attempts. Aaron Affalo and Tobias Harris each had 16 for the Magic while their teammate Nikola Vucevic grabbed a league high 19 rebounds in the 98-84 win.
The Pacers relied on a strong third quarter to beat the Warriors 108-97. The game is most notorious for the fight between Roy Hibbert and David Lee in the 4th quarter (with only Hibbert being ejected). Stephen Curry went off for 38 points and David Lee had a double-double himself with 12 points and 12 boards. David West led the Pacers with 28 points.

The Heat, one of the best teams in the NBA, took two overtimes to dispose of the dreadful Sacremento Kings 141-129. The Heat were able to dominate the second overtime and were led throughout the game by Lebron James's 40 point and 16 assist performance.
The Cavaliers pulled one over the heads of the Chicago Bulls even though their star point guard Kyrie Irving was unable to play due to a sore right knee. Dion Waiters carried the scoring load for the Cavaliers with 28 points while Bill Walton's son Luke led the team with 5 assists. Carlos Boozer scored a game-high 27 points for the Bulls in the 101-98 loss.

D Williams

Deron Williams hit four free throws in the waning minutes of last night's game as the Nets defeated the Hornets 101-97. Williams led all players in scoring with 33 points while also contributing 8 assists. Greivis Vasquez did everything he could for the Hornets leading them in points (20), rebounds (8), and assists (7).
The Mavericks continue to struggle this year as they have lost another one 95-90 to the Bucks. Dirk Nowitzki played one hell of a game scoring 21 points and grabbing 20 rebounds but it was just not enough. Monta Ellis scored 22 points and recorded 9 assists for the Bucks.
Neither team reached 80 in regulation but once in overtime the Suns defeated the Timberwolves 84-83. The Wolves appeared to have won the game but Marcin Gortat made a layup with only 13 seconds let in the fourth to force overtime. Gortat, Markieff Morris, and Wesley Johnson each had 14 points for the Suns while the Timberwolves leading scorer was Derrick Williams who had 21 and also had 12 rebounds.
In the last game of the night the Clippers destroyed the Bobcats (surprised???) 106-84. Blake Griffin of LA and Gerald Henderson of Charlotte each scored 24 points. Chris Paul led the game with 13 assists.

All NBA 2/27/2013
Pos	Player	Note
G	Dwayne Wade- Miami	Shot 19-28 from the Field on his way to 39 points while also grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists.
F	Luol Deng- Chicago	Scored 26 points last nigh tin the close loss. Shot 9-16 from the field including 2-4 from long range. Also had 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
F	Lebron James- Miami	*Player of the Night* Scored 40 points to outbest his teamate, Shot an incredible 11-12 from the FT line plus had a remarkable 16 assists.
F	Dirk Nowitzki- DAL	Had 21 points and 20 rebounds in the loss; so his tremendous productivity has really gone to waste by the Mavs.
C	Brook Lopez	Shot 9-14 from the field. Scored 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while blocking 4 shots.

NHL Recap
After a scoreless first period Olli Jokinen broke into the scoring column to put the Jets up 1-0 over the Rangers. Evander Kane followed a minute later to give the Jets the 2-0 lead. Ryan Callahan was able to stop the Rangers' slide with a goal of his own but Jokinen answered back and the Jets were up 3-1 going into the third. The Rangers got the gap to two about nine minutes into the final frame but Evander Kane answered back 20 seconds later to put the game at 4-2. Anton Stralman scored a minute later for the Rangers but Jets were able to hold on the rest of the game and win 4-3.

Shut Out Man

Braden Holtby made 33 saves in the Capitals' 3-0 win against the Hurricanes. His opposing keeper Cam Ward played a very impressive game as well stopping 37 of 40 shots. The Capitals scored one goal in each period with Nicklas Backstrom striking in the first, John Erskine in the second, and John Carlson in the third.
The Stars outshout the lowly Blue Jackets 39-20 but were forced to go to overtime for the win. Brenden Morrow scored the only goal of the first but then the second really saw a lot of scoring. Each team scored twice with Nikita Nikitin starting things off for the Blue Jackets and then the teams took turns scoring. With the Blue Jackets down 3-2 entering the third it was crucial that they score and Cam Atkinson did just that 6 minutes into the frame. The Stars' Cody Eakin put his team up 4-3 with only 6 minutes and the Blue Jackets were in desperation mode. R.J. Umberger came up in the clutch with 1:36 left in the game and we were now headed to overtime. The Stars' took caare of business when Lou Eriksson scored with assists by Derek Roy and Brenden Dillon for the 5-4 win. Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves on 39 shots for the Jackets.
Steven Stamkos opened up the scoring in Tampa Bay but the Bolts' lead was shortlived; Cody Hodgson scored his eighth goal of the year for the Sabres 9 minutes later to tie it up 1-1. The two first period goals were it until the beginning of the third period when Tyler Myers scored for the Sabres. That was it for the game with the Sabres winning 2-1.
The Panthers and Penguins played a close one (and high scoring) in Florida. Tomas Kopecky got the Panhers off to a lead in a quiet first period. The Second is when things exploded and the Penguins tied the game up 4-4 thanks to a powerplay goal by Chris Kunittz with 41 seconds left. The  Panthers won the game in the third thanks to Tomas Felischman's goal early in the period and then Tomas Kopecky netted another one later for a 6-4 victory.
After a first period that had both teams at one goal the Bruins were able to pull away in the second with goals by Brad Marchand and David Krejci. Gregory Campbell added an empty netter with just over a minute left in the third to secure a 4-1 win against the Islanders.

Parise

Alex Tanguay's goal in the first seemed like it was going to be enough for the Flames to win but Jason Zucker saved the Wild's day with 5 minutes left in the third thanks to assists by David Setoguchi and Ryan Suter. The Wild were able to ride that momentum and scored just 26 seconds into overtime. Zach Parise's goal was assisted by Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter as the Wild walked away with a 2-1 OT win.
The Coyotes led the Canucks the whole way in Vancouver but it was close througout. Kyle Chipchura started off the scoring in the first and teammate Mikkel Boedker made it 2-0 in the second. Jason Garrison of Vancouver got the Nucks back within one 2 minutes later. Antoine Vermette then scored to make it 3-1 and Henrik Sedin scored just after to make the difference one again. Kyle Chipchura got the insurance goal with 23 seconds left on an empty netter to finish off the 4-2 win.
It took a shootout to decide the Sharks Avalanche game. The Sharks got off to a quick start thanks to a goal by Logan Couture in the first but Chuck Kobasew tied things up 12 minutes later. The Sharks again got a 2-1 lead thanks to T.J. Galliardi. The Avalanche were on their last breath when Mark Olver scored his second goal of the year with only 3 minutes left. Overtime was not able to produce anything for either team and things went to a shootout. Michal Handzus scored ont the first attempt of the shootout and it took until the Av's third for P.A. Parenteau to slip one past Antti Niemi. Patrick Marleau then scored in the ovetime of shootout and then Niemi stopped John Mitchell's attempt for a 3-2 Sharks win.

All NHL 2/27/2013
Pos	Player	Note
F	John Mitchell- Colorado	Although he was unable to score a goal Mitchell got 4 shots on net and played a good defensive game hitting 7 guys, blocking a shot, and forcing a turnover. He also was 17-9 at the faceoff dot.
F	Antoine Vermette- Phoenix	His goal was a very important one last night and he also threw in an assist for a two point night. He finished the game at +3.
F	Tomas Kopecky- Florida	Scored three goals and two of them were on the powerplay. He also had an assist to get his fouth point.
F	Ryan Callahan- NY Rangers	Scored one goal on his seven shots on net in additio to 5 hits. Finished the game with a +2 in the Rangers' loss.
D	Ryan Suter- Minnesota	Had two assists on the night including one in overtime.
D	Brian Campbell- Florida	Led all defensemen with 3 points last night coming from 1 goal and two assists (with every point coming on the powerplay). Also blocked 4 shots.
D	Paul Martin- Pittsburgh	Scored on his only shot of the night and finished the game with a +3.
G	Semyon Varlamov- San Jose	His team may have lost 3-2 but Varlamov was peppered with 41 shots and saved 39 of them. He came up short in the shootout though.
G	Ryan Miller- Buffalo	Only let in one goal on 31 shots against.