Getty ImagesA little over a year and a half ago the Montreal Canadiens signed Erik Cole to a 4-year, $18 million deal. In his first full season with the Habs Cole posted respectable numbers: 35 goals and 61 points. His start to the 2013 NHL season has been anything but good with him netting just three goals and six points through 19 games.

On Tuesday, Cole's time in Montreal was up as GM Marc Bergevin shipped him and the remaining two years and $9 million left on his contract to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Michael Ryder, who's deal is expiring after this season, and a 2013 third round pick. ESPN's Pierre LeBrun reports that Cole waived his no-trade clause to make the move happen.

From the Stars:

"Erik Cole is a top-six, power forward who skates well, adds size, and is under contract for the next two years,” said Dallas Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk. “We thank Michael Ryder for his contributions and look forward to what Erik will bring to our group."

Ryder spent the first four years of his career with the Habs and also posted 35 goals in his first year in Dallas last season. He's started off this year a little better than Cole with six goals and 14 points in 19 games with the Stars.

Time will tell if a change of scenery will bring back Cole's offensive fortunes from a year ago, but the Habs get a pick, get out from the final two years of his deal, freeing up cap space this summer and a player in Ryder, who would like to cash in on his expiring contract.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Getty ImagesPreview: Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. ET. Much has already been made about Alex Semin making his first visit to Verizon Center since leaving the Capitals to sign with the Hurricanes over the summer. Will there be a short video tribute? Probably not. Will Semin go bongo punching on Troy Brower after his comments on Tuesday? Probably not. Will he score against his former team? Probably, because that always seems to be the case in these situations.

Preview: Phoenix Coyotes at Vancouver Canucks, 10 p.m. ET. The Canucks look to rebound after their 8-3 thrashing at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. It's Cory Schneider's turn in net as he tries to help Vancouver snap a two-game losing streak at Rogers Arena. David Booth will also be back after an illness went around the team. The Coyotes enter tonight's game having blown two leads in their last two games. According to head coach Dave Tippett, Phoenix will be without Radim Vrbata, Martin Hanzal, Derek Morris and David Schlemko.

Preview: Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks, 10:30 p.m. ET The Sharks need to turn around their current 1-6-3 skid if they're to avoid any potential shakeup within the team. According to the AP, San Jose has posted a 3-plus-goal game just one time in their last 10. Brent Burns and the suspendes Ryane Clowe will be missing from the lineup tonight. For the Avalanche, they'll be without Matt Duchene, who's nursing an injured groin.

Evening Reading

• New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 24 and the team has recalled Keith Kinkaid. [Devils]

• Something Nail Yakupov did last night got under the skin of CSN Chicago analyst Eddie Olczyk. Try to contain your laughter. [Cult of Hockey]

• We'd read any quote from Darryl Sutter that begins with, "By the time I got home and got my jammies on..." [Mayor's Manor]

• Via Buzzing the Net, here's a great shootout goal by Sam Anas of the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms:

Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: ChicagoNativeSon, from Mooney's outstanding piece on the kid goalie who let in 60 goals:

"It all started with a phone call, and a president that wanted a desert nation to become a hockey powerhouse."

I'm pretty sure that's exactly how Phoenix got a team too.

Bold prediction: Alex Semin scores, but the Caps win 3-2.

Because Ilya Bryzgalov is both a space aficionado and someone who completely understands the appeal of his “hockey’s greatest Cosmonaut” whimsy, of course the Philadelphia Flyers goalie is going to have a “Star Wars”-themed mask (via @NHLFlyers).

FlyersOBI-WAN: “That’s no moon. That’s a space station.”

BRYZ SOLO: “No no no … iz too huMANGous beeg to be space station is totally moon. Right, Chewie (nods at Scott Hartnell)?”

Pretty cool stuff right there: Imperial Stormtrooper, TIE Fighter, Star Destroyer (a.k.a. being asked to play goal for the Flyers) and of course Bobby Clarke as Darth Vader (we’re assuming).

But the other side of the mask … we sense a disturbance in the Force.

In Oct. 2010, Simon Gagne returned to Philadelphia after having been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning by the Flyers. A video tribute to his time in Philly – he score 259 goals from, 1999-2010 for the team – ran on the Jumbotron.

"I didn't want to cry. I was trying not to, but it was hard,” he said.

Wonder what his tear ducts are doing today?

Gagne will wear the orange and black again, as the Philadelphia Flyers reacquired the left wing from the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2013, which the Flyers owned from the Phoenix Coyotes. (That pick was acquired in the Sergei Bobrovsky trade with Columbus, which it had acquired in the Antoine Vermette trade.)

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

Blues

• Via Leahy, here’s a classic shot of Brett Hull at St. Louis Blues casino night, because this is how you eventually become some team’s Ambassador of Fun, right Dallas?

• Dallas Stars MVP candidate Kari Lehtonen on his progress back from an injury: ““I was probably 75 percent yesterday, I am 85 percent today, I’ll be 95 percent tomorrow and then 105 on Thursday.” [Dallas Stars Blog]

• Don Maloney said the Phoenix Coyotes won’t talk contract with Mike Smith during the season because no one owns the team yet. Sigh … [FS Arizona]

• The good news: Rene Bourque does not have the flu. The bad news: Rene Bourque has a concussion. OK, make that the karmic news. [Hockey Inside Out]

• James Wisniewski has a broken foot, joining Jack Johnson in the infirmary and leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets’ blueline rather thin. [Puck-Rakers]

• Peter Laviolette does not believe that practice makes perfect. [Daily News]

• Becca on the return of Alex Semin to Washington: “There's no doubt that when he does so, he'll be facing a decade of memories - and so will we. Gauging the reaction of the hometown crowd when a longtime Cap returns for the first time is tough to do, but the hope is that there will be at least some sort of positive response, a warm reception, some acknowledgement of the great hockey we were privileged to see while The Other Alex roamed these streets.” [Japers’ Rink]

• The PuckBuddys on the return of Sasha: “But I predict the Verizon faithful are going to let him have it, with a few scattered apologists wailing, ‘Guys, but that wrister!’ He’s been an alright pickup for the Hurricanes with three goals on the season. Or, differently, as many as Ovechkin had in his last game. And speaking of Ovechkin, my God, we might get to see Ovi absolutely train track Sasha in the open ice. Think about that, and salivate over it. I need to go change.” [RMNB]

• Pierre LeBrun on the Anaheim Ducks’ goaltending: “I don’t believe there’s any chance Anaheim would move Hiller this season, not with the small yet impressive body of NHL work it has gotten from Fasth. Hiller at least finishes the year in Anaheim.” [ESPN]

• “In which Randy Carlyle encourages idiocy,” by Ryan Lambert. [Two-Line Pass]

On Saturday, Elliotte Friedman reported on the NHL's proposed realignment plan for next season during Hockey Night in Canada's Hot Stove segment. Now more details are leaking with approvals still needed from the Board of Governors and the Players' Association.

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun obtained a memo sent to all 30 teams on Tuesday that outlined the NHL's latest realignment plan.

As a refresher, here's how the league -- Eastern Conference and Western Conference -- would look under this proposal, as reported by Friedman:

From LeBrun:

The playoff format as detailed in the league memo Tuesday calls for the top three teams in each division to earn postseason berths. The remaining four spots would go to wild cards, the top two records in each conference. That means there's a possibility five teams make it from one division and only three from another.

The schedule matrix would see each team play teams in the other conference both home and away.

There was talk that a potential play-in game, like what Major League Baseball implemented last season, would come into play, but according to this proposal that is not the case.

Via TSN, here is the playoff situation:

It would be divisional playoffs, not conference playoffs, so 1 vs. 4, 2 vs 3 in the first round. The two fourth seeds would be made up of the wild-card teams. The top division winner based on regular-season points in the standings would face off against the lower-ranked wild-card team. The other division winner would play the higher-ranked wild-card.

First-round winners then meet in second round in the division championship; Third round sees Pacific winner vs. Mid-West winner in Western Conference finals; Central winner versus Atlantic winner in Eastern Conference finals; Eastern and Western Conference champions meet in Stanley Cup finals.

Sixteen teams in one conference and 14 in the other might be an issue for some, but overall this plan limits travel and will make television executives very happy. Also, fans will get to see every team at least once in their building. Under this proposal, the league and PA would meet after three seasons to discuss any issues and potential changes.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

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Pictured: Alexander Medearis in the UAE locker room.

Exhausted, Alexander Medearis watched the puck drop for what he assumed would be the final centre ice faceoff of the night, as only a few seconds remained in the game, if you could call it a game: His club, the United Arab Emirates U17 team, trailed the HC Silver Lions from St. Petersburg 59-0.

Medearis, 14, had been in net for all 59 goals, surrendering one nearly every minute during a game that was played almost exclusively in his end. St. Petersburg had tested him over 200 times at that point: 81 shots in the first, 57 in the second and 66 in the third.

Yes, the Silver Lions actually shot more in the final period than the second. They scored more too. While most clubs might have shown a little sportsmanship and eased up at some point after they took, say, the 16-goal lead the Silver Lions had after 20 minutes, the Russians just kept coming. They poured it on in the third and even found another gear inside the final minute, scoring twice in the last 25 seconds.

When the official dropped the puck at centre ice following their 59th goal, Alexander could only watch as the Silver Lions won the draw and charged straight ahead. They faced little resistance from the Emirati skaters (just as they had for much of the game but even moreso now as the boys, trailing by 59, checked out in the dying seconds).

Soon, St. Petersburg was charging into the UAE end on another odd-man rush. They beat Alexander and the clock for one last goal.

When the final horn sounded, the score was 60-0.

How did Medearis get into this predicament, watching 60 shots fly by him?

It all started with a phone call, and a president that wanted a desert nation to become a hockey powerhouse.