Phil Kessel can score goals. This is what he was brought in to Toronto to do. Last weekend against Detroit, Kessel scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf. Kessel's a good player, and he's going to score a lot, but his first one? Little bit of thievery there, tapping in a Jason Blake shot that was about to enter the net anyways. The hockey logic here is sound: you see a puck about to go in the net, you make damn sure it goes in that net. Still, bit of a jerk move. I think I got shoved hard when I did the same thing in street hockey when I was 7.

But that's just nitpicking. The Leafs earned that win despite Kessel's "MINE!" approach on that play.

Does anyone else think Phil Kessel looks permanently winded?

Arena Annoyance: Watching Colorado and Vancouver right now, and "Warriors of Time" by Black Tide was just played for the third time tonight. If you've ever played NHL 09, this song probably makes twitch every time you hear it. And three times? Hire a new DJ.

A Trade NHL 10 Made: St. Louis Blues acquires Alexander Semin and Alexandre Giroux from Washington for Eric Brewer and Alexander Hellstrom

St. Louis gets a bona fide sniper and expert bongo player in Semin, and AHL star Alexandre Giroux, who I guess will help the farm team in Peoria. Good for him. Washington makes out with a Swedish defenceman with 30 PIMs in 8 games in the SEL after giving up on North America at the end of last season. The key to the deal is Eric Brewer, who I guess will help Washington on the backend. Or something. He'll probably be injured. This deal makes perfect sense. St. Louis gets an all-star forward and can finally name a new captain who actually dresses for games. Washington... yeah, I've got nothing.

Beating A Dead Horse: Remember when teams wore white at home? Part of the fun of going to a game was seeing the different colours of opposing teams' jerseys. Right now if you live in Boston, every game you go to has the Bruins in black and all 29 other teams in white. In the 90s the Bruins would be in white, and the road team would be in red, or blue, or orange, or black, or anything else that wasn't white. Right now, the only way you'll see different colours are if a team is wearing their third jerseys.

Great marketing plan, NHL. Selling third jerseys by boring fans with blandness.

Jersey Review: Speaking of third jerseys, Colorado wore their new uniforms on Saturday, their first ever foray into the world of the colour blue. Personally, I don't like them. The wordmark on the front is tacky. I know it was on their burgundy thirds from a few years ago, but that doesn't mean it was ever a good idea. The main logo on the shoulders also feels out of place.

The jerseys are meant to look like the vintage sweaters of old, with shoulder yolks and clean stripes on the arms. One problem: the black stripe ends up extending upward into the armpit, making a strange black swatch where you wouldn't expect one. Thanks Reebok. And what's with the AVALANCHE written on the collar?

Oh, and they lost the game 8-2. Please never wear these again.

Obscure player jersey found on the NHL online store: When customizing a jersey on the NHL's online store, you can pick from a list of active players' names and numbers for that team. While it's neat to see some of the lesser known names on the lists, sometimes you find some rather... obscure choices. Enter Josh Godfrey, #73 on the Washington Capitals. That's Josh Godfrey of the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays, he of zero NHL games, and 14 AHL games played between 2008 and 2009. I'm not even sure that he owns this jersey.

Hockeybull Made-Up Rumour of the Week: Montreal will send Kyle Chipchura to Los Angeles for Sean O'Donnell to fill their defensive holes, but will be forced to take Alexander Frolov in the deal.

Schedule Fail: Vancouver won the first of a home-and-home series against Colorado on Saturday. One thing... Colorado plays in Calgary on Tuesday and Edmonton on Wednesday before they play in Vancouver on Friday. The Canucks have five days off between games. What was that about a compressed schedule? Thought so.

Final Thought: Henrik Sedin scored 3 goals against Colorado, his first career hattrick. I think he may have absorbed his injured brother and finally become a complete player.