The Universal Cynic

Well, that's one way for Chris Neil to become the face of the franchise.

Someone march the Red Army in front of the SBP tomorrow, because it's blatantly evident that Ottawa likes a certain Commie (please, for the love of God, tell me that's his moniker).

No. 89 was cheered repeatedly and made his presence known with two assists. Early impressions have been encouraging -- he keeps his stick down, and always looks prepared to take the puck. We think he'll be a nice fit, so golf claps go out to Muckler for making the move.

Best quote from The Driver tonight: "I wanna trade (Joe) Corvo to Phoenix for Kaigorodov so we can fleece someone else with him."

Speaking of which, after a brutal turnover from No. 7 in the first, TSN had the maligned defenseman's quote from yesterday's Citizen all prepped and ready to go, the minute he returned to the bench. In case you missed it, here's what appeared below Corvo's face during his closeup time:

"Maybe I'll get moved to forward, I'm playing so bad defensively."

Someone get the kid a psychologist. But honestly, we can't say we're surprised. Kings fans warned us about Corvo's play, and well, we discovered the now-defunct corvosucks.com page (made by an L.A. fan) a long time ago.

In other news, Brent Wallace broke the story about Ray Emery receiving a three-foot ball python (yet unnamed) as a Christmas gift from his parents. How does a 24-year-old goaltender making less than a million dollars this year have everything already?

More later.