After years of firing mostly blanks, the Toronto Maple Leafs have quietly assembled some live ammo to inject into their struggling offence.

The Leafs trouble with scoring was evident in the mounting number of shootout losses this season - six in few than 30 games. Coach Paul Maurice said he simply didn't have the tools needed to do the job.

"When you're showing up at the Kentucky Derby with a Shetland ponies, you're not going to finish in the money very often," lamented Maurice, after yet another shootout loss.

Jarome Iginla expressed his unhappiness to the media in Nashville on Thursday. The Predators, apparently equally unhappy, traded the star to Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.

The surprise move had the Flyers send Dany Heatley, Joni Pitkanen, and Manny Malhotra to the Preds for Iginla, a 52 goal scorer for the Preds just a season ago. However, it was reported that Iginla had a falling out with Preds coach Andy Murray, and the club decided to trade him.

For GM Rob Paul and the fans in San Jose this has been one roller coaster of a year. After surviving the Tsunami on the beaches of the Golden Coast to start the season the Sharks have been biting away at their competition, but the GM believes they need to be better and he has been trying to address some concerns with his new Coach Glen Gulutzan.

The Sharks have been scoring goals but have been less than average on the defensive side. While addressing these needs the GM contacted the Rangers GM Alain Desjardins about the availability of pricey forward Stephen Weiss and what Weiss brings to the table on both sides of the ice.

Boston Bruins announced today they have ended their search for a new General Manager.

Dave Colbourne has been named GM of the Bruins, and is expected to be introduced at a press conference in Boston on Tuesday. Colbourne, who engineered the Yellowknife Stabbers to three consecutive Arctic Hockey League championships, takes over for departed Bruins GM Denis Chiasson.

 

The NAIHL Board announced Friday that longtime NAIHL GM Dan Paladino has been dismissed from the league, and that the league has taken over operation of the Flames and Coyotes.

The move comes after an investigation determined that Paladino was posing as the GM of the Coyotes while operating the Flames franchise.

"It's a sad day for the league. Dan was with us a long time, but the evidence is clear and overwhelming," said a league spokesman. "This league is about fun, and for someone to demonstrate such a clear lack of integrity and lack of respect for other league members is unacceptable and inexcusable." 

The matter was brought to the attention of the Board by another GM who found some oddities in his dealings with the Flames and Coyotes. The subsequent investigation found questionable chatbox and instant message transactions, and was backed by IP address tracking and other digital forensic evidence.

This leaves the league with four GM vacancies. The Board is working on a plan to fill these remaining vacancies. In the meantime, the league will operate these two franchises.

It is expected that the league will offer an opportunity to current GMs to switch teams if they wish to take over the operation of any of the vacant franchises.