Several players hit the waiver wire on Saturday — including Brian Rolston of the New York Islanders, Grant Clitsome of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Darryl Boyce of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who was claimed by the Blue Jackets.

Conspicuously absent from that list: Wojtek Wolski of the Rangers, whose $3.8 million cap hit was seen as an essential deletion from their payroll were the Blueshirts to make a significant move at the NHL Trade Deadline. Say, like, for Rick Nash.

Hours later, we learned why: TSN reports that Wolski's been traded to the Florida Panthers for a 2013 third-round pick and defenseman Mike Vernace, who was signed by the Lightning and then traded to the Panthers this season. He's been toiling in the minors since 2006, and had cups of coffee with the Avalanche and Lightning.

ESPN's Katie Strang explains why Wolski fell out of favor in New York:

The enigmatic forward carries a large cap hit of $3.8 million for a player that has been a consistent scratch under coach John Tortorella. Hampered by injury this season, Wolski has struggled to crack the lineup since returning from sports hernia surgery last month and has played in only three games since January 12.

Florida has lost four straight, scoring five goals in that span.

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After the handlebar mustache, the most immediately memorable aspect of Ross "The Boss" Rhea in the new movie "Goon" is his voice: The deliberate, rumbling cadence of a take-no-crap hockey brawler from Newfoundland, emanating from an occasional sly grin.

It's the voice adopted by Liev Schreiber, who plays Rhea and provides the film with an idol and inevitable antagonist for Seann William Scott's Doug Glatt. His gravitas balances out the cruder (and hilarious) aspects of the script by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg, which chronicles the rise of a hockey enforcer from bar bouncer to minor league player.

This isn't the first time Liev Schreiber's voice has elevated a hockey production: His voiceover work for HBO Sports on projects like "Broad Street Bullies" and "24/7" is as vital to their success as any visual element or editing.

Schreiber, a New York Rangers fan, spoke with us on Friday about making "Goon", his inspirations for the role and the politics of hockey fighting. Enjoy!

Q. You were a hockey fan before this film, but the producers had you learn how to play hockey for "Goon." How did learning hockey inform your fandom?

SCHREIBER: Until you've been on the ice and played the game, I don't think you can really comprehend why people go so crazy for it, although there are probably millions and millions of hockey fans that have never laced up skates in their lives.

There's a very particular joy that comes from moving around the ice that quickly and playing the game. It's a really special feeling.

You watch a hockey game, and the hand-eye coordination and the speed is really miraculous; how those guys track the puck alone, just following it with their eyes. They're thinking 30 seconds ahead of every play, knowing where other players are going to be. It amazes me.

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Chris Simon, infamous NHL goon-turned-KHL all-star, likes to punch people in the face. He doesn't like when someone tries to prevent him from punching people in the face.

Simon, a winger for Metallurg, wanted to punch former Florida Panthers forward Janis Sprukts of Dinamo Riga in a Friday night game, presumably in the face. The KHL linesmen wanted to prevent this from happening. Simon responded by punching over and through a linesman, hitting the official in the process. But the real offense comes at about the 1:05 mark:

Referee Vyacheslav Bulanov attempted to break up the fight, and Simon elbowed him. The elbow earned Simon a game misconduct late in the third period, along with five for fighting and two for roughing. Metallurg lost the game to Riga, 4-1.

Simon has now played five seasons in the KHL, and has 43 PIM in 23 games for Metallurg this season. He's found a niche, years after he used Ryan Hollweg's head as a piñata and sharpened his skates on Jarkko Ruutu in 2007, followed by his departure from the NHL in 2008. But yeah, once in a while the crazy still comes out, apparently.

Meanwhile, the biggest revelation from his clip might be that Ron Swanson is moonlighting as a Russian hockey referee during his down time in the Pawnee parks department:

s/t FC's Hockey Fights.

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is nothing if not enthusiastic. Like dancing at the team's post-Super Bowl party despite being hobbled by an ankle injury; Gronk said on Friday that he was just a guy having fun with family and friends.

Back in Nov. 2011, Gronkowski's enthusiasm manifested in a celebratory spike of the football after scoring a touchdown against the rival New York Jets. The No Fun League hit him with a $7,500 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Michael A. Mudd was not about to let that party pooping by the NFL stand. The president of the American Hockey League's Worcester Sharks, Mudd said the team would be "happy to reimburse Gronkowski to spike the puck" before their Feb. 24 game against the Providence Bruins.

Gronkowski accepted the invitation. On Friday night, in front of 10,170 fans at DCU Center — the largest crowd in the Sharks' six seasons at the arena — the Patriots star was driven out on the back of a GMC pickup truck and performed what may be the first ceremonial puck spike in AHL history.

Nice of them to keep the car running so the exhaust fumes clouded around Gronkowski. Must have been a nice buzz.

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No. 1 Star: Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres goalie made 35 saves through three periods and overtime, and then made three of four saves in the shootout to backstop Buffalo over the Boston Bruins, 2-1. Andrej Sekera and Zdeno Chara traded goals in regulation; Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek scored in the shootout, helping Miller earn the Golden Helmet (photo via Sketchball).

No. 2 Star: David Jones, Colorado Avalanche

Jones scored two goals and an assist in the Avs' 5-0 domination of the Columbus Blue Jackets. His unassisted goal at 19:34 of the first period, coming after Colton Gillies hit the crossbar at the other end, gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. His goal 1:35 into the third period gave the Avs a 3-0 lead. He later assisted on Matt Hunwick's first of the season to make it 5-0.

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Defenseman Marek Zidlicky was done with the Minnesota Wild, after a fundamental disagreement with coach Mike Yeo about his role and public statements of frustration to the media. The Wild's options were limited, too, as Zidlicky had a no-trade clause. When he moved, it wasn't expected to be for much.

Yet GM Chuck Fletcher managed to get forwards Nick Palmieri and Stephane Veilleux, defenseman Kurtis Foster, a second round pick in 2013 and a conditional third round pick in 2013 from the New Jersey Devils for Zidlicky on Friday night.

Foster and Veilleux are both former Minnesota players. Foster spent four seasons with the Wild from 2005 to 2009; Veilleux played 361 games over six seasons in Minnesota. They're both unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, although Foster's booming shot on the point would be tantalized to retain for the right price.

To get a player like Palmieri back for Zidlicky is, at face, hockey voodoo. He's an RFA, but he's a young forward with potential that simply played his way out of a gig with the Devils. As Pete DeBoer said last month: "This was a guy I pretty handed a top-six forward job to off the bat and he slowly worked himself out of that."

So it's not as if the Devils were fleeced here or anything; it's two UFAs, a spare part forward and a second-rounder, basically, which is still a coup for Fletcher considering the circumstances.

(Mike Morreale of NHL.com reports that the Wild get conditional 3rd rounder pick in '13 if the Devils make East Final in 2012 and Zidlicky plays 75 percent of their games in the 1st two rounds of the playoffs.)

Question is whether Zidlicky's a worthwhile addition.

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