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Eastern Conference 6-10

6. New York Rangers | 54 GP | 63 PTS |

7. Buffalo Sabres | 54 GP | 62 PTS |

8. Florida Panthers | 53 GP | 60 PTS |

9. Carolina Hurricanes | 54 GP | 59 PTS |

10. Pittsburgh Penguins | 53 GP | 57 PTS |

The Florida Panthers have won five out of seven and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime Tuesday night to jump ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes and move into eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 60 pts. They're a team that won’t be going away. The Penguins meet the Panthers three more times this season. The Panthers currently have two games in hand on the Penguins

Has anyone noticed how much more Hockey coverage ESPN has now compared to last year. In recent weeks the Capitals-Penguins game was the top story on ESPN.com and Tuesday night the matchup between the Bruins and Sharks was rewarded with the top headline which never happened last season unless it was a special occasion like the playoffs.

There is good reason ESPN has picked up their coverage of the NHL this season. As I mentioned about a month ago, ESPN and the National Hockey League remain in talks about the NHL returning to ESPN. The Players Association is the driving force behind a potential return as the NHLPA has been seeking a better television deal. The holdup in a return to ESPN for next season is ESPN wants exclusive rights to the Stanley Cup Finals. Versus currently carries the first two games of the Finals, with NBC carrying 3-7.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is a NBA guy and he needs to take a strong look at the NBA’s national t.v. Schedule. The best case scenario for the game of hockey is returning to ESPN, let Versus act as the TNT of the NHL (Televises Game and the Week on Monday, Tuesday ) and has exclusive rights to some playoff games, including exclusive rights to one of the Conference Finals series. NBC carries weekend games in regular season, playoffs and conference finals series that Versus has rights to.

Still, the players association deserves a lot of credit for when the NHL returns to ESPN. May not be for next season but expect ESPN to be televising games by the 2010-2011 season.