If a full season is lost, then maybe Gonchar heads back to Pittsburgh as a UFA but that's further down the road.

So if the Pens want to bring back the veteran before next season, they'll have to pay a surprisingly high price and the Sens management will have to feel confident they can replace Gonchar's minutes.

Patrick Wiercioch, Andre Benoit and Mark Borowiecki are all going to push for a spot but I'm just not convinced any of them are ready to assume full time duties at the NHL level just yet.

Worth keeping an eye on but it's premature to assume this is a sure thing.

*****

While I remain confident the NHL will be back at sometime in January, I'll admit I've completely lost interest in all things CBA related.

In fact, having taken a few days off Twitter during the holidays, there were times I completely forgot about the NHL altogether. And I know I'm not the only one who feels that way.

In the meantime, we have an exciting team in Binghamton, a Canadian Junior team expected to battle for the Gold and a Spengler Cup team that features a whole host of NHL stars including Jason Spezza of our Ottawa Senators.

While I'll do my best to keep the site up to date over the next few days, it's safe to assume there will be some significant downtime until the NHL is back in session. On Saturday, I'll be flying to the Dominican Republic with Lady Chirp and it's unlikely blogging will be my top priority.

During this time, I have the web design guy working on a new layout that should help freshen things up around here.  As always, I know I can count on the loyal readers to keep the discussion going during the quiet times.

Thanks so much for your patience and ongoing support of this website. I really hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday season and that we'll have some NHL hockey to talk about in the not too distant future.