Happy 4th of July all of our Pucking Awesome readers, and now that we are all full of hot dogs, hamburgers and fireworks we will look back at the fireworks that occurred in the first three days of free agency in this weeks Pucking Awesome Hat Trick.
The riches contract was given out before July 1st as Tomas Plekanec got a 6-year, $30 million deal to stay in Montreal. Patrick Marleau, also came off the market before July 1st signing the riches per year contract as he will be paid $6.9 million per year to continue to know the way to San Jose.
As for the riches deal given out on the 1st was to the twice traded Dan Hamhuis, as he went home to the tune of $27 million for six years. Sergei Gonchar left the friendly confines of Crosby land to sign the riches per year deal on July 1st, a $5.5 million per year to play in Ottawa.
The division that has had four teams make the playoff’s three out of the last four years just got tougher to play against, literally. With the Flyers trading for talented defenseman Andrej Meszaros, a year after trading for future hall-of-famer Chris Pronger, re-signing young stud Bryadon Coburn and adding veteran Sean O’Donnell. That signaled the race was on in the Atlantic to put up the best defensive unit in the division.
The Penguins, who lost top defender Sergei Gonchar, responded by signing the block shot machine Zbynek Michalek to a 5-year, $20 million deal. Later in the day the purged the division rival Devils, by signing the smooth skating Paul Martin to a 5-year, $25 million deal.
Lou Lamoriello responded to the loss of Martin by signing the hard hitting, tough nose Anton Volcehnkov to a 6-year, $25.5 million deal. He also added the sturdy Henrik Tallinder to a 4-year, $13.5 million deal.
We also can’t forget that the last place Islanders upgraded their defense by signing former Penguins Mark Eaton to a 2-year, $5 million deal and the hard hitting Milan Jurcina to a 1-year, $1 miilion deal.
To be fair the Rangers are more focused right now on signing their own young talent as both Marc Staal and Dan Girardi are restricted free agents and they are in talks to sign talent prospect Ryan McDonough away from the NCAA champions Wisconsin.
With all that in mind, the Atlantic division now holds some of the best defensive corps in the NHL and the matchups between all these teams got more interesting with players jumping ship for greener pastures.
Back to the Past
The biggest head scratcher of the free agent frenzy that ensued on July 1st was the return of Olli Jokinen to the Calgary Flames. Jokinen was exiled from the team just five months before and didn’t set off any fires while in New York, scoring only four goals and adding 15 points in 24 games with the Rangers.
Why would Darryl Sutter bring back the fu man chu? Well one answer is he got him back for a cheaper price as he signed a two-year, $6 million deal. Another would be the crop of free agents at center were so thin that he felt maybe the former 30-goal scorer would relish his second chance to center Jarome Iginla. But both players employ a shoot first mentality so Sutter’s other, under-the-radar move was to bring back the slick passing winger Alex Tanguay.
The 30-year-old Tanguay had two successful years playing on a top line with Iginla, with 40 goals and 99 assists, before being shipped out for a first round pick to Montreal. Sutter took a lot of heat in the media for bringing back both of these former Flames, but the joke might be on everyone, if they build instant chemistry and give the Flames a dominant top line to go with their already stellar defense and Miikka Kiprusoff, they just better hope that their playoff lives do not come down to a shootout.
The Best of the Rest
The second waves of signing are often the most overlooked signings in the offseason. The names that still roam free are some heavy hitters that could round up most teams looking to win the Stanley Cup. The question now turns to the players, if they are willing to take a short term contract to prove that they are who we thought they were.
Mike Modano has not announced his plans of if he will return for a 21st NHL season, if he does and signs with a contender he could be a great third line player, who kills penalties as he did score 14 goals last season and showed no signs that he has lost his legs.
Lee Stempniak is only 27-years old and scored 28 goals last season for the Maple Leafs and Coyotes. Sure sounds like an attractive free agent to round out your second line? The problem is he had 14 of those goals in his 18 games with the Coyotes and with only 96 career goals in 374 games it is hard to judge what Stempniak’s worth is on the open market.
Willie Mitchell is one of the most underrated defenseman in the league. The 33-year-old will hit anything and is solid in his own end. His absence from the Canucks blue line this season was very noticeable as they failed to get past the second round. Concussion issues are scaring off potential new teams, as Mitchell has had two in his last three seasons, including being out of the lineup for most of last year. He could be a cheap fine for a contending team, if he can prove the concussion symptoms are behind him.
Some other players to keep an eye on are; goalies Evgeni Nabokov, Marty Turco and Jose Theodore, wingers Paul Kariya, Bill Guerin, Alex Frolov and Eric Belanger, and defenseman Andy Sutton, Joe Corvo and Kim Johnsson.
Monday, January 18th, 2010 Written by:
Eric Sutter
The Olympic break is slowly creeping up on Fantasy owners. As the break hits, this will be a good measuring stick, as teams stuff games into a short time period, to see how your team stacks up.
So to help owners out, we will look at some of the best Waiver Wire pickups to gather before the big break.
Marty’s long lost brother’s cousin’s uncle has put on a show in his first three games this season giving up only three goals in those games, including a shutout.
Considering the Senators fired their goaltending coach a couple of days ago, it shows you how much confidence they had in the current goalies on the roster.
Big time pickup Pascal Leclair still can’t seem to stay healthy, and Brian Elliot has done nothing to solidify himself as the guy to turn to full time (10-11-3), so in steps the former seventh-round selection.
Goalies are very streaky, so ride the 26-year-old’s current hot streak, for the Senators are finally starting to get healthy and play 14 more times before the break, with only two back-to-back nights.
The Coyotes are for real and need to be taken seriously as fantasy contributors. None more than the 23-year-old defenseman, who is following a career year with a breakout performance this season, and has to start being owned in 100 percent of leagues.
Yandle already has a career-high six goals, with half of them coming on the power play and has tied his career-high 37 penalty minutes.
The Boston native is playing 48.4 percent of the Coyotes power play which helps his stock (6 power play points), and has two game-winning goals. With 14 games remaining before the break, look for Yandle to build on his career year.
With the likes of Dion Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester, and Robyn Regehr on the Flames backline, it is a true surprise that Giordano is starting to become a fantasy impact player but wake up and smell the salts: the 26-year-old is worth a pick up despite the big names surrounding him.
The Toronto native leads the Flames D in points (20), PIM (54) and is second in Power Play points (8), while being a plus player (+6).
The undrafted free agent played last season in Russia after rejecting a two-way contract but has seem to make the right decision coming back to play in the NHL.
Paired with Bouwmeester on even strength obviously has helped his plus-minus and playing on the top power play has shown he is here to stay and be an impact fantasy player.
The classic case of a talented player just needing a change of scenery, as Latendresse has been on fire for the red-hot Minnesota Wild. The former second-round pick by the Canadiens has 13 goals in his first 24 games in Minnesota (15 total). The 22-year-old’s career high in goals is 16.
Though fighting an illness recently, it has been the opposing defense that has been sick to see Latendresse on the ice with 15 points in his last 13 games.
Playing alongside equally hot Martin Havlat (14 pts in last 15), the 6’2’’ power forward has seemed to find a home in the Western Conference and should find a home on your fantasy team.
The 35-year-old made his season debut for the Canucks on Saturday and should start to be added on fantasy teams. Wanting to play for the Slovakian Olympic team, Demitra wanted to get some time in before the Olympics.
This 10-time 20+ goal scorer, including last year, will start on the third line of the deep Canucks, but as he gets more ice time watch for his points total to rise.
Demitra has averaged 57 points in the last three years and seems to be healthy after off-season shoulder surgery, so he should be activated into your fantasy lineup.
The former ninth overall selection has now been promoted to the top line on Long Island to create a line of the last three first round picks for the Islanders (Okposo ’07, Bailey ’08, Tavares ’09).
The 20-year-old is responding to this promotion with 14 points in his last 13 games. Though playing center his whole career, being moved to the wing on this talented line is not only good news for the Islanders but for fantasy owners with dual eligibility.
The Ontario native also is contributing on the power play with seven power play points and is an amazing +11 on a team that is giving up 2.94 GAA/game.
With eight of the 14 games at home, look for Bailey to continue his hot streak, as he has 10 points in 22 home games this season.
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 Written by:
Alex Mueller
No more oil in the well – Ah the Edmonton Oilers when you think of the Oilers you probably think Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Lowe, Fuhr, Coffey. The list goes on and on or you might think of the five championships they won in the 80’s with those players. Lately though it’s been mostly doom and gloom, having not made the playoffs the past three years and they don’t look to be breaking that streak this year. But give them credit for making the 05-06 Stanley Cup Finals.
Despite the awful starts the Hurricanes and Maple leafs had the Oilers have almost caught up to them or more accurately slid down to them. When Dwayne Roloson, 40, left in the off season the Oilers hoped to upgrade their position. So they signed Nikolai Khabibulin, 37 slightly younger, who had just led the Blackhawks to the western conference finals. Unfortunately that didn’t really workout as planned. Khabibulin has for the most part been disappointing and made a couple of gaffes in the beginning of the season that cost the Oilers some games. He also has been on the injured list since the middle of November. Personally I think it’s for the best, they really need to find their goalie of the future and not just rotate old guys. Unfortunately he is signed for another three seasons after this season. Right now the Oilers are going with Jeff Deslauriers. He hasn’t performed all that well, though he has only started in 32 games in his NHL career thus far. Personally they should be playing Devan Dubnyk they drafted him 14th overall in 2004, time to give him his shot. While he hasn’t exactly lit it up in the AHL, everyone deserves a chance.
Offensively other than the reemergence of Dustin Penner not much has gone right for the Oilers. Alex Hemsky was playing well, again, but he is gone for the season with his torn shoulder. Nobody else strikes fear into opponents. I think they really should go after somebody via free agency or a trade. IIya Kovalchuk is a possibility via one of those options. Whether he would want to play in Edmonton is a different story. It’s defiantly worth a shot though and it would give Edmonton the kind of pure scorer they have lacked. It’s also time to start bringing up the young guys to see what they have. Charles Linglet has played well for the Springfield Falcons, he should be brought up and given a good luck.
Needless to say what they are doing now is not working. It’s time for a shake-up and to get the youth movement going.
Goalie Spotlight
No time this week.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
For his pre-game chat and questionable calls against Alex Burrows in the Vancouver Canucks game against the Nashville Predators. The video has the 2nd more atrocious call.
Things I like
1. The Philadelphia Flyers have finally responded to their new coach and have started to turn their season around. They always had the talent it’s just a matter of piecing it together. Except for the game against Ottawa Michael Leighton has played well during the winning streak. Mike Richards and Chris Pronger both have 5 game point streaks currently.
2. Despite the fact that the Sabres have Ryan Miller I’m still surprised they have been in 1st place in their division for so long. Buffalo is the only division leader without a points scorer in the top 25.
3. Watch out for the Islanders NHL. 7-2-1 in their last 10 and winners of four of their past five, the Islanders seem to be coming together. This includes a total dismantling of the Red Wings last night 6-0. Former 1st overall pick of the draft Rick DiPietro has also made his return to the island.
Things I don’t
1. The controversy surrounding Alex Burrows and Ref Auger. Just some bad calls in general, I think I could see if he called holding the stick but diving it certainly was not. Either way it was incidental and the interference call was just horrible. I would have called diving on Joel Ward. I also don’t care for the NHL’s failure to punish Auger at all, yet they fine Burrows for shame NHL. This kind of stuff ruins the integrity of the game.
2. Evgeni Malkin hasn’t scored a goal in nine games dating back to his hat trick against Ottawa. He has only 5 goals in 19 games in December and January. The Penguins also still have the 2nd worst powerplay.
3. The Chicago Blackhawks who seemingly were manhandling the wild 5-1 after two periods, only to give up four goals on seven shots in the 3rd period forcing the game into overtime. The Blackhawks then ended up losing in the 8th round of the shootout, 6-5. You have to play the whole 60 minutes Chicago.
Stat Line of the Week
01/08/10 Buffalo 3 vs. Toronto 2
Skater
TOI
G
A
+/-
SOG
PIM
T. Myers
24:48
2
1
0
4
0
Tyler Myers rookie campaign has been a successful one thus far in Buffalo. He scored two goals and added an assist, all on the powerplay, having a hand in all the Sabres goals. Myers is 5th in the league in rookie scoring. A feat made all the more impressive because he is a defenseman. He also leads all rookies in assists.
Did You Know?
That Curtis Joseph is the only goalie in the top 10, for wins all-time, that has never won a Stanley Cup. His best finish in the postseason was the Eastern Conference finals with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Numbers, Numbers
2,500 – Dollar amount for the fine on Alex Burrows for talking out about the referring of Stephane Auger.
0 – Games suspended or amount fined for the pre game talk and questionable calls by Stephane Auger.
454 – Wins by recently retired Curtis Joseph, 4th on the all-time list.
94 – Goals allowed by the New Jersey Devils the only team not to reach 100 yet.
45 – Saves by Henrik Lundqvist out of 45 shots, yet he still lost in the shootout.
This Week in Hockey History
Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.
January 07, 2000 Joe Sakic became the Colorado franchise all-time leader in games, when he appeared in his 814th career game with the team, a 4-1 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Sakic replaced Michel Goulet, and picked up two assists in the game.
January 07, 1989 Vancouver’s Tony Tanti scored his club-record 10th hat trick and set a new team record for fastest 3 goals (6:46), as the Canucks defeated Pittsburgh 7-5. Tanti also added an assist
January 08, 1988 Flames’ rookie Brett Hull scored twice and added two assists as Calgary beat the Islanders 7-4, to extend their home undefeated streak against New York to 8 games (6-0-2).
January 09, 1993 New York’s Mike Gartner became the first player in NHL history to get 25 goals in each of his first 14 seasons, when he scored twice for the Rangers in a 4-3 loss at Philadelphia.
January 10, 1992 Washington Capitals set a team record with three shorthanded goals (including two in :18) during a 7-4 win over the Kings, at Landover, Maryland. Kevin Hatcher led the scoring with two goals and two assists.
January 11, 1941 Dave “Sweeney” Schriner had a goal and three assists, and Turk Broda recorded his 23rd career shutout as the Maple Leafs beat the NY Americans, 9-0 in Toronto. It was the Leafs’ second consecutive penalty-free game — a first in NHL history.
January 12, 1994 Winnipeg’s Teemu Selanne scored his 100th NHL goal in a 3-2 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres. The milestone came in Selanne’s 130th career game, the second-fastest 100 goals in NHL history. (Bossy scored his first 100 goals in 129 games).
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
1. Philadelphia 2. San Jose 3. Buffalo 4. Chicago 5. Vancouver
Bottom 5
30. Edmonton 29. Toronto 28. Atlanta 27. Pittsburgh 26. Los Angeles
The Ducks have finally gotten healthy and have a four game winning steak going because of it, their longest of the season so far. Anaheim’s second win in the streak was against the St. Louis Blues, a team near them in the standings. Rookie Matt Beleskey scored his second goal in as many games to help propel Anaheim to victory 4-2. The Ducks were actually down 2-1 in the 3rd but rattled off 3 goals. Beleskey’s was the game winner and the Ducks also scored an empty netter to seal the deal.
Next up was the Predators another team the Ducks are trying to catch up to in the Standings. This game saw the return of Teemu Selanne, from a broken hand, who scored the games first goal. Ryan Getzlaf also scored his first goal since coming back from his injury. The Ducks took their 3 goal lead into the 3rd period and saw their lead cut to 1, but they were able to hang on for the win, 3-2.
Next up were the Blackhawks coming off their stunning defeat against the Wild 6-5. Despite being out shot 43 to 11 the Ducks somehow managed to eek out a victory 3-1. Hiller was phenomenal on the road helping to steal the victory for the Ducks. Perry, Koivu and Selanne (empty net) added the goals for the Ducks. The Ducks have about a month before the Olympic break to make up a lot of ground in the standings.
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 Written by:
Alex Mueller
Back from my one week vacation, did anyone miss me? This is a really long column this week.
Winter Classic? – The NHL had their annual winter classic on New Years Day. Certainly the most marketable game, besides the Finals, and it also draws the most ratings for a regular season by a huge margin. I remember the first winter classic between the Sabres and Penguins. I thought the snow flurries added a nice touch. It look cool watching it on TV but it wasn’t snowing hard enough to ruin the performance of the game. I also thought the game was rigged. It seemed too fishy to have the game to go into a shootout and have it be won by Sidney Crosby. I mean that NHL gets to showcase one of the more exciting aspects of the game, the 1 on 1 shootout, and they get to have their most marketable star, Crosby, win the game. But I guess that’s just what happened.
I didn’t get to watch last years’ game because I thought the game was on at 1pm. Which it was but I live on the west coast so when I turned it on about five minutes before 1pm it had about five minutes left in the game. I can’t remember being more annoyed. This year’s game between the Bruins and Flyers featured almost 40 minutes worth of pre game activities. Some of them added a nice touch I thought like talking to Bobby Orr and Bobby Clarke and showing classic footage of each. But overall I thought it dragged and I just wanted the game to start already.
The game was kind of flat. I didn’t find most of it to be all that exciting, except for the end. Philadelphia truly dominated all but the last 5 minutes of the game and overtime. Even though Boston had one more shot on goal in certainly didn’t feel that way. Philadelphia had the better scoring chances and it always seemed to have an odd man rush in their favor every five minutes. Whether it was a breakaway or a 2 on 1, Tim Thomas kept the Bruins in the game. He played like a monster in front of the monster (I couldn’t resist) with well timed saves and occasionally losing his gear during them. I was stunned to see the Bruins tie it up with about three minutes to go in the game. I wasn’t surprised they won it in overtime though; you could tell the momentum had shifted after that. Michael Leighton played really well for the Flyers which I wasn’t expecting, since he didn’t exactly tear it up for Carolina. But he has played well since coming to Philadelphia. Leighton has played on four different teams in his career and is in his second stint with the Flyers. Hopefully he has found a home this time. If he continues to play well I suspect he has and he may even push Emery out the door when he gets back. I was hoping for rain or snow during the game but that didn’t happen. I look forward to next year’s game, wherever that may be.
Named to the Canadian team this past week I figured I do a write-up on him. Loyal readers know that I already did spotlights on all of the goalies on team USA.
Robert Luongo is the first goalie to be named captain of his team since Bill Durnan in the 1947-48 season. Luongo is a native of Montreal, Quebec like so many other great goalies that come from Quebec. He has a rink named after him where he used to play the 2nd goalie with that honor, the first being Martin Brodeur. He started skating at age 8 and wanted to play goalie then, but his parents wanted him to focusing on his skating. At age 11, after playing forward for a few years, his team’s regular goalie didn’t show. After begging his mom he was allowed to play goal. She said on that day, “It made me sad because he loved hockey and couldn’t skate.”[1] As fate would have it Luongo posted a shutout on that day and it was clear he was meant to be a goalie. At age 15 Luongo joined Montreal-Bourassa a midget team that Martin Brodeur and Felix Potvin (who Luongo is linked to in many ways) played for before they were stars. Luongo then moved on Val-d’Or Foreurs (a junior ice hockey team) where he received rave reviews. Luongo was drafted with the 4th pick by the New York Islanders in 1997. He was the highest drafted goalie ever until the Islanders, again, picked Rick DiPietro 1st overall three years later.
In the 1999-2000 season, a few months after signing his contract, Luongo split time with the AHL (Lowell Lock Monsters) and the Islanders. Luongo played so well that he surpassed Felix Potvin as the starting goalie so Potvin was traded to Vancouver. Despite being considered their future goalie the Islanders traded Luongo and Olli Jokinen to the Panthers for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha. This paved the way for the Islanders to take DiPietro.
Luongo started his career with the Panthers splitting time with Trevor Kidd but he soon emerged as the clear cut number one. It was hard to record wins playing for the struggling Panthers but he continually posted great GAA and SV%. An ankle injury sidelined him for a third of the 01-02 season. He received his first Vezina Trophy nomination in 03-04, setting the NHL record for most shots faced and saved in a single season and he led the league with a .931 SV%. The previous record holder was Felix Potvin. Luongo was second in the Vezina balloting losing only to Martin Brodeur. After the lockout season Luongo signed a one year deal with the Panthers. He posted what was then a career high of eight shutouts that year. Before the start of the 06-07 season he was wrangling for a new contract with the Panthers. He had a list of demands he wanted met in the contract but GM Mike Keenan and Luongo didn’t have the best relationship. In a surprise move Keenan elected to trade Luongo to the Canucks for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. Luongo brought instant stability to the Cancuks net that had been searching for a goalie for some time since Kirk Mclean left.
In his first season with the Canucks he was an All-Star, set the franchise record for most wins in a season with 47 and set a career high for wins and GAA. 2007 was the first year Luongo ever made the playoffs. In his first game he came within one save of tying Kelly Hrudey’s mark for most saves (73) in a playoff game. The Canucks lost to the Ducks in the 2nd round. Luongo was nominated for three awards (Vezina, Pearson, Hart) that year and finished second in all of them losing to Brodeur again for the Vezina trophy. The next season he was named an All-Star again but he stumbled down the stretch and the Canucks missed the playoffs. Luongo led the Canucks to their second division crown in three seasons and into the 2nd round of the playoffs again. They lost to the Blackhawks in six games where Luongo gave up seven goals. He was heavily criticized for his play and he acknowledged he let his team down. Before the season started he signed a hefty 12 year contract extension.
After struggling mightily this year with a horrible October, Luongo has rebounded nicely posting some stellar numbers in the month of December. He also holds five Panthers’ franchise records and six Canucks’ franchise records. The Canucks hope to repeat as division champs but have stiff competition this year in the Calgary Flames and the Colorado Avalanche. This three team race should go down to the wire, just like last year’s two team race between the Canucks and the Flames.
Funny how about 75% of the goats of the week usually involve a Goalie leaving the crease. That’s why I say goalies should always stay between the pipes. Hedberg thought the puck was going to take a different bounce then it did and Derek Roy was the benefactor of that mistake, as he scored the game winner into a wide open net.
Things I like
1. Rene Bourque where has this guy come from? Never having more than 40 points in a season, he is practically already there after 36 games with 34 points. He also scored his 2nd career hat trick on Dec. 28th.
2. The Sharks top line is all bound for the Canadian Olympic team. If Canada was smart, they would just play that line as it is. They already have a half a seasons worth of chemistry.
3. Jamie Langenbrunner has been on a roll lately. He has a five game point streak going and had a three game goal streak during it, including a hat trick against the Wild. Earlier this month, he had a point streak of seven games.
4. The Sedin twins are getting even hotter. Henrik is now leading the NHL in points and Daniel is creeping up the leader board despite playing in only 25 games so far. Conversely the Canucks have also been creeping up the standings now residing in 6th place.
Things I don’t
1. Consistent is something the Washington Capitals are not. After having strange losses earlier in December to Buffalo and Toronto the Capitals end the month by not showing up against the worst team in the league, Carolina, and then one of the best teams, San Jose. They fell behind 0-3 to the Hurricanes, last Monday, in a game you thought they would have won but they lost 2-5. Maybe they thought it would be a cakewalk and they didn’t really come to play. But the next night against the Sharks they did the same thing and fell behind 0-3 before losing 2-5. You think they would have been motivated to play the Sharks. The Caps snapped their three game losing streak with a win against Montreal.
2. The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost five in a row now. They seem to be getting worse though as each loss mounts. Evgeni Malkin has particularly struggled, producing no points in his past four games and a costly turnover against the Panthers. Things are so bad Mario Lemieux watched almost all of their practice. They were finally able to beat Atlanta 5-2 and Malkin had an assist which is a start.
3. Anze Kopitar was the leading scorer in the middle of November now he is tied for 15th. Has anyone fallen this much this fast before? The Kings have also fallen from a brief, and I do mean brief, stint in 1st place to all the way down to the 7th slot. Of course I write that on Monday and then on Monday night the Kings crush the Sharks at the Shark Tank 6-2. Kopitar had a goal and an assist in the game.
4. Injuries to the Anaheim Ducks. When your injuries can produce a line of Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne, and Joffery Lupul you know you will have problems scoring. That’s just what has happened to the Ducks. A shame because the Ducks were able to string together a bunch of wins overcoming the Selanne and Lupul injuries. But losing Getzlaf is just too much in addition to them and now they are back on a losing streak.
Stat Line of the Week
01/03/10 Senators 7 vs. Flyers 4
Skater
TOI
G
A
+/-
SOG
PIM
A. Kovalev
18:47
4
1
+5
6
0
Alexei Kovalev feels like he’s been around forever because he has. Now in his 17th season, Kovalev had four goals on six shots not to shabby to go with his +5. The four goals was a career high.
Did You Know?
While Kovalev’s five point night was good the record for most points in one game is twice that mark. The record of 10 points is not held by Wayne Gretzky but rather Darryl Sittler. His six goals and four assists in 1976 as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a game against the Boston Bruins, still stands today. You have to like the chances of that record falling in the next few seasons though.
Numbers, Numbers
4 – Canadian teams that would make the playoffs if they started today out of 6.
-12 – +/- for Scott Niedermayer which looks to be receiving his third minus season in a row, after having only 1 in his previous 15 seasons before.
53 – Wins last year for the President Trophy winning Sharks, they are on pace for that again this year.
14 – Road wins for Colorado last year; they have 13 at the halfway point this year.
This Week in Hockey History
Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.
December 31, 1910 Montreal Canadiens goalie Georges Vezina played the first of 367 consecutive regular season and playoff games, when Montreal lost their NHA season opener, 5-3 to the visiting Ottawa Senators. Vezina played every game for Montreal for 15 seasons.
January 01, 1999 Teemu Selanne scored his 15th career hat trick and added two assists, Steve Rucchin had two goals and two assists and Fredrik Olausson tied his career high with four assists in the Mighty Ducks’ 7-2 win at Buffalo.
January 02, 1990 Mario Lemieux tied team record he had set four years earlier, when a goal and an assist increased his point scoring streak to 28 straight games, 4th longest in NHL history, as the Penguins lost 5-2 to Boston.
January 03, 2002 Buffalo’s Rob Ray became the 7th player in NHL history to get 3,000 career penalty minutes (and the first ever to get 3,000 PIM with one team) when his minor, major, and two misconducts pushed him to 3,019 career PIM, in a 3-1 loss at Calgary.
January 04, 1997 Rangers’ Wayne Gretzky tied a club record with four assists in the second period as New York won 6-4 over the visiting Ottawa Senators. It was Mike Richter’s 11th straight win, and the Rangers’ 2,000th franchise victory.
January 05, 1957 CBS television became the first U.S. network to televise an NHL game as the host New York Rangers beat Chicago 4-1 in an afternoon game, at Madison Square Garden.
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
1. San Jose
2. New Jersey
3. Chicago
4. Colorado
5. Buffalo
Bottom 5
30. Edmonton
29. Columbus
28. Atlanta
27. Toronto
26. St. Louis
Before I start this I’d like to say it’s incredibly annoying to listen to Brian Hayward announce Ducks games sometimes with his dumb “he’s living right” quote. He says it all the freakin time he must have said it like 10 times during the Blackhawks game, I think it was. Such a dumb quote who is living wrong by the way Hayward?
The Ducks lost Ryan Getzlaf to an injury against the Sharks so an already depleted team further depletes. That’s two years in a row a Duck has been injured by their own skate, first Selanne and now Getzlaf, strange. Bobby Ryan, of team USA, led the way against the Wild scoring two goals and providing an assist. While Anaheim didn’t give up the game in the 3rd period, they only produced 2 measly shots in it. Still they picked up the win and that’s the important part.
They followed up that win with an awful performance against the Stars. I don’t know what it is but the Stars really have the Ducks number the last few years. This doesn’t sit well with me since I’m not a Stars fan to begin with. Though Hiller faced a lot of shots, he didn’t play well. You can tell it’s going to be a tough night when the first goal you give up in the game is a shorthanded one.
The Predators game was hard to stomach as the Ducks led 1-0 after the 1st period then… well you know how it ends. Though the final score was 3-1 the buzzer beating empty net goal doesn’t count in my book. Hiller played better but there are just too many injuries to overcome and the lines are all out of whack. A really tough game to lose because the Ducks needed those 2 points and needed the Predators to not to get them.
Next up was the red hot Blackhawks and Anaheim got crushed 5-2. Now I know what you’re saying but it’s the Blackhawks true, however at the end of November the Ducks shutout the Blackhawks 3-0. Of course the Ducks were healthier then with Getzlaf and Selanne and Chicago didn’t have Hossa yet. My how things have changed, I turned it off at 4-0 so I could go watch the equally thrilling Jets vs. Bengals which was just as competitive, gag. I missed Petteri Nokelainen’s two garbage goals but good for him for scoring them.
Against Detroit Ryan Getzlaf came back and he was greatly needed. The Ducks halted their three game losing streak beating the Red Wings 4-1, with one goal being an empty netter. Getzlaf picked up an assist in his return and Hiller played well for a change making some great saves stopping 38 of 39 shots. Saku Koivu had a pretty shorthanded goal and Matt Beleskey had his first NHL goal. All in all one of the more well-rounded games the Ducks have played in some time.
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 Written by:
Alex Mueller
Uniforms – I’ll try something a little lighthearted over the holidays. I will complain about certain team’s uniforms/logos. Feel free to complain as well.
Vancouver Canucks 3rd jersey – It took me awhile, yes sad I know, to figure out that was a hockey stick. But honestly what is the point? The other jerseys are fine and this is a just a stick coming out of an oval, it just looks dumb. Some of you may rip me because it’s a pure old school classic hockey. Rip me anyway I don’t like it.
Anaheim Ducks jersey logo – I like the old mighty ducks logo not the name “mighty ducks”, ducks is fine. It’s weird though because without the mighty in the title you just think of a regular duck. I don’t know about you, but the first thing I think of when I think of Anaheim or Southern California is not a duck. Perhaps Donald Duck eventually. At first I thought the logo was lame then I realized the “D” in Ducks was a webbed duck’s foot then I came to the conclusion, it’s still lame.
New York Islanders jersey – I have always hated the logo and the colors, it’s hard to imagine they have had the same logo for 37 years. Change it already.
Quebec Nordiques jersey and logo – One of the worst in the NHL, thankfully we no longer have to look at them. The logo reminds me of Q-bert remember that game?
Pittsburgh Penguins old logo – Now don’t get me wrong I love the Penguins logo. This is when they changed it in 1992 to some kind of “new age/cutting edge” penguin. Thankfully they changed it back. Don’t mess with the penguin, Pittsburgh.
New York Rangers jersey and logo – Not really in love with the logo and the jerseys with the just the name Rangers written on them, it isn’t very imaginative. They could use a new name and a new logo.
Of course nobody tops the ugliness of all of the Pittsburgh Pirates jerseys. Just beyond hideous. The Pirates folded because of financial reasons. I bet they didn’t sell any jerseys either. Of course the hideousness didn’t end there. No folks they moved the team to Philadelphia and renamed them the Quakers. They of course also brought along the same graphic designer to give you the lovely jersey below.
Of course to be fair there were a lot of bad NHL jerseys in the 20’s and 30’s.
Lots of goats this week and that’s not a good thing.
Double goats in this clip, but Thompson is more of the goat than Lundqvist. Thompson misses a wide open net, and I do mean wide open. In his defense he only has 3 goals in 80 career NHL games, note sarcasm. That being said I think he will be a finalist for goat of the year. Lundqvist is a goat for playing that far out of the net. Its one thing to cut down the angle but that is way beyond a comfortable distance from the net, plus he never got the puck and he fell down.
Ivan Vishnevskiy’s play was just as bad as Thompson but he cost his team a chance to tie the game. Ivan had went back to play the puck off the board in his own zone and appeared to have control but he lost it and ended up scoring on his own empty net. I don’t think the Sharks need help to win games.
Things I like
1. Martin Brodeur breaking Terry Sawchuk’s shutout record against the defending champs no less. Brodeur took 1,032 games to get number 104, while Sawchuk had 103 shutouts in 971 games played. Brodeur also broke Patrick Roy’s most games played by a goalie record this week. Brodeur now has played in 1032 games (Roy 1029).
2. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been playing some decent hockey as of late and they might even contend for a final playoff spot before the season is done. In December so far they have gone 7-4-1. The Phil Kessel deal has worked out well too. Now all they need is a goaltender. No one in their three headed rotation has played all that well. They actually have the 2nd worst team GAA ahead of only Carolina.
3. As someone mentioned last week I did forget about the Sedin twins, so I’ll mention them now. Henrik had his 9 game point streak snapped on the Dec. 20th game against St. Louis. Daniel had his 8 game point streak snapped against Washington on Dec. 18th. Since they’re twins and they started the streaks on the same day, it’s a shame the streaks couldn’t be snapped on the same day.
4. Sidney Crosby up until Brodeur’s record breaking shutout game had amassed 18 points in the past 9 games. He also was even or had a positive +/- in all but one of those games. Crosby also just recently got back line mate Chris Kunitz from injury.
Things I don’t
1. Hard to imagine a team playing worse than the Columbus Blue Jackets, okay besides Philadelphia. Their 2-10-5 record in their last 17 games is, I’m sure, not what the city of Columbus wanted for Christmas. Struggles abound everywhere for this team. See stat line of the week below.
2. In 11 games in December Philadelphia’s Mike Richards has only 5 points. Three of those five came in one game against the Islanders. One of the many reasons the Flyers are struggling.
3. After a seemingly good start the Islanders have settled back near the bottom like recent times. It’s a shame really but maybe it’s what they need long term so they can get higher draft picks. At least they have been drafting somewhat better the past few years. Tavares and Okposo, recent high picks, are bright spots.
Stat Line of the Week
12/19/09 Avalanche 5 vs. Blue Jackets 2
Skater
TOI
GAA
SA
SV
SV%
C. Mason
4:15
42.35
7
4
.571
Last year’s Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason was pulled after less than five minutes into the game against the Avalanche. He gave up 3 goals on 7 shots for a whopping 42.35GAA. His replacement Mathieu Garon gave up a powerplay goal 4 minutes later.
Did You Know?
After Brodeur the next active player with the most shutouts is Chris Osgood with 50. Robert Luongo and Evgeni Nabokov are next after Osgood with 49 each. George Hainsworth is 3rd on the career shutout list behind Brodeur and Sawchuk. Hainsworth is however the single season record holder with 22. Times have certainly changed since Hainsworth set that record in 1929.
0 – Shutouts against Nashville, San Jose and Edmonton the only three teams he hasn’t shutout yet
10 – Shutouts against the Islanders, the team he has shutout the most
44 – Career wins against Philadelphia the team he has beaten the most
6-1 – Record against Minnesota his highest winning percentage against one team
.878 – SV% against Vancouver his lowest, one of only two teams he is under a .900 SV%
.932 – SV% against Chicago and Montreal his highest
This Week in Hockey History
Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.
December 17, 1983 In his 352nd career NHL game, Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scored a goal and added five assists to reach the 500 assist mark and the 800 career point mark in his NHL career. Oilers won 8-1 over the visiting Quebec Nordiques.
December 18, 1954 Montreal’s Maurice Richard became the first player in NHL history to score 400 career goals, when the Canadiens defeated the Black Hawks 4-2 at Chicago.
December 19, 1993 Goaltender Mike Richter set a franchise record by extending his unbeaten streak to 20 games (17-0-3) in the Rangers’ 6-3 win over the Senators in New York. Richter broke the team record of 19 games (14-0-5) set by Dave Kerr in 1939-40.
December 20, 1959 Chicago Black Hawks scored seven goals in the second period and won 7-4 against the Maple Leafs, at Chicago Stadium. Bobby Hull led the scoring with his second career hat trick and an assist.
December 21, 1937 Chicago’s Paul Thompson became the first player in NHL history to score a goal against his brother, when he scored on Bruins’ goalie Cecil “Tiny” Thompson, at 19:51 of the third period, in a 2-1 Black Hawks’ loss at Boston Garden.
December 22, 1979 Philadelphia Flyers set an NHL record by extending their unbeaten streak to 29 games (20-0-9), with a 5-2 win at Boston. Boston previously held the record of 28. Flyers extended their streak to 35 games, longest in sports history.
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
1. New Jersey
2. Los Angeles
3. Pittsburgh
4. Nashville
5. Washington
Bottom 5
30. Columbus
29. Philadelphia
28. NY Islanders
27. Tampa Bay
26. Dallas
The Ducks got a hard fought win against the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. Sexton had some pretty passes setting up Ryan and Koivu for goals. Anaheim completely dominated the 1st period as the Canucks only got two shots on goal. The Canucks converted one into a goal anyway. I didn’t see the Sharks game but the Ducks got crushed 4-1. It’s a shame really because the Ducks had been playing well as of late and this was a good measuring stick game. Turns out they still have a ways to go. Getzlaf scored goals in back to back for the first time this season. That seems kind of sad but Getzlaf is more of a setup man than a goal scorer, though he can score when need be. Against the Coyotes Getzlaf notched another goal bringing his goal scoring streak to three games. Bobby Ryan also extended his points streak to six games. The Ducks to a 3-1 lead into the 3rd period and after Phoenix scored to take the game to 3-2, I started to get that feeling. But the Ducks didn’t give up anymore goals and Bobby Ryan iced in on the powerplay in the final minutes. Even better the Ducks moved out of last place. Congratulations Anaheim.
The last game this week for the Ducks was against the Avalanche on the road. A game I didn’t think they would win but maybe they could give it a good shot. The Ducks were down 2-0 in the 3rd but still I watched. Good thing too, as the Avalanche decided to do what the Ducks usually do and gave up 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd period. The last one was an empty netter though. The first goal for Anaheim was sort of questionable and even though Ryan was in the crease sort of preventing Craig Anderson from making a save, Kyle Quincey of the Avalanche I believe it was, was sprawled out in the crease which also would have prevented Anderson from making a play. The refs ruled it a goal. Sexton was next up for the Ducks tapping in a tough rebound. Getzlaf scored the game winner with about 26 seconds left. A great win for Anaheim and even though they were down 2-0 they actually dominated most of the game outshooting the Avs 42 to 17.
The Ducks are starting to gel and this could be one of those turnaround games for them. Even though they have won 4 of their past 5 they aren’t anywhere near playing to full potential. Hiller and Giguere can both play better and two of their top scores Selanne and Lupul are out. When they get back and if the goalies can raise their level this will be a tough team to beat in the second half of the season.
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 Written by:
Alex Mueller
‘Tis the season to underachieve? – So who are this years biggest underachievers? Some might say Vancouver or Detroit. Detroit is due for a bad year after all their years of success and Vancouver, while a decent team, is a team I think is overrated. Some “experts” picked them to go to the finals this year. Really? At any rate both teams are only a few points out of playoff spots. The biggest disappointments would be, by far, Carolina, Philadelphia and Anaheim. All of them made the playoffs last year and they were all pretty much expected to build upon their success last year. Philadelphia has really tumbled lately, all they down to 13th place, and just recently fired their head coach. Carolina and Anaheim are bottom feeders. So what has happened?
Well I generally document Anaheim’s problems on a weekly basis. I will sum it up with injuries, not being able to win key face-offs, dumb penalties, inconsistent goalie play, poor penalty killing and not clearing the zone when they have the opportunity. Selanne, Giguere, Koivu, Wisniewski, and Lupul have all been injured. Various other minor players have also been bitten by the injury bug. Lately they have been blowing 3rd period leads which happened in a stretch of three games in a row. They are 2nd in the league in giving up the most goals in the 3rd period. They need to have that killer instinct and shut teams out in the 3rd period when they have a lead. One bright spot for the Ducks is their power play. After struggling in the beginning of the year, they now have the 3rd best power play in the league. The Ducks need to start doing the little things better and get everyone back healthy and playing consistently.
Philadelphia had high expectations after being bounced in the playoffs two years in a row by the Penguins. Chris Pronger in the eyes of the Flyers was that missing piece to get in the way of Crosby and Malkin and they gave up a lot to get him. Pronger has played well though. His +/- is near the top of the league and his scoring pace is higher than his previous two seasons. So we can’t blame Pronger. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are on the same pace for points this year as they were last year. They did lose Joffrey Lupul and his 25 goals a year but Danny Briere is healthy this year and picking up that slack. So what’s the problem? Well I haven’t watched all that many Flyers games, so I can’t say with certainty. Having Simon Gagne, and his 30+ goals, injured for much of the year hasn’t helped the Flyers. Ray Emery’s numbers are worse than the man he replaced, Martin Biron. In the most recent game against the Canadiens Brian Boucher, subbing for Emery, gave up 3 goals on 13 shots, yikes. So goaltending which has generally been the Flyers Achilles’ heel is still a problem. The penalty killing could be improved as well.
Carolina has the honor of having the worst record in the league. They also went 14 games without a win in one stretch, ouch. Starting goalie Cam Ward has been out for a month so far. Neither of his backups are performing well. In fact the Hurricanes have the worst SV% and the 2nd worst GAA. Eric Staal has really struggled this year and is just recently starting to play better. Veteran Rob Brind’Amour is also struggling. Carolina’s powerplay is 2nd to last, which is never a good sign. The Hurricanes are also tied for 2nd with the Ducks in giving up the most goals in the 3rd period. Hmm… let’s see, bad powerplay, check, struggling 1st line, check, starting goalie injured, check, giving up tons of 3rd period goals, check. It’s hard to win games when those things are happening. On the bright side the Canes have won 2 in a row, although they have done that two other times this year only to go on losing streaks again. They should be getting back Cam Ward this week, which should help the Hurricanes immensely. Of course Ward will need to work off his rust.
All these teams have the talent to make a run for the playoffs. The season is only a third of the way done, so there is still plenty of time to turn it around. However if things don’t start to improve expect changes to be made. Whether it’s dealing some players, or following the Flyers lead and making a coaching change, shakeups will occur. Expectations for these teams are too high this year to sit around and be content with being in last place.
Kiprusoff is a Finland native and was selected in the 5th round by the San Jose Sharks in the 1995 entry draft. Before joining the Sharks in 2000, Kiprusoff was already an established international star. Kiprusoff led TPS in the Finnish league SM-liiga to gold in 1995 and 1999. He won the Urpo Ylönen trophy, for best goalie, in 1999 a year after fellow NHLer Tim Thomas (Goalie Spotlight Week 7) won it. His numbers in the postseason that year were a 9-1 record, 3 shutouts, and a 1.55 GAA. He also led Finland to silver placing finishes in the 1999 and 2001 World Championships and in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
Kiprusoff moved to North America in 1999 and played for the Kentucky Thoroughblades in the AHL, and made the All-star team his first year. He played briefly for the Sharks during the 00 to 03 seasons. In the 2001 playoff series against the Blues, Kiprusoff became the 1st Finnish goaltender to win a playoff game. Having lost the starting goalie spot to Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks traded him to the Flames in 2003 for a 2nd round pick.
Rejuvenated by the trade to the Flames, Kiprusoff was named defensive player of the month for December of 03. Despite battling injuries he led the Flames to the postseason for the first time in eight years. He also led the league in GAA with a 1.69 mark, setting the tone for a stellar career with the Flames. This was the lowest GAA in the modern era and 24th best all time. He went on to lead the Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals, including beating his former team along the way, against the Tampa Bay Lightning where they lost a close series in 7 games. The year after the lockout, Kiprusoff won the Vezina (best goalie) and Jennings (lowest team GAA) trophy. He set the record for most wins for a Flames goalie with 42 and then broke it himself 3 years later with 45 wins. Other Flame franchise records he holds include: Most shutouts in one season (10), most shutouts all time (30) and most games played in a season (76).
Despite losing in the 1st round the past 4 years, the Flames look poised to go deep in the playoffs this year. With Kiprusoff, captain Jarome Iginla, and new additions from last year Olli Jokinen (fellow Finlander) and this year Jay Bouwmeester the Flames have a great core. Off to a great start this year the Flames hope it can land the Stanley Cup in Canada for the first time since the Canadiens brought it home in the 1992-93 season.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Didn’t like that many fights this week and I’m strapped for time.
Technically not a fight as Bradley didn’t get any penalty minutes. Carcillo punches Bradley right as he drops his gloves. Carcillo racked up 29 minutes in penalties with the check and fight.
Brian Elliott for giving up this fluke goal off the glass to Ryan Getzlaf, you might want to position yourself better Brian. No harm done as the Senators won in the shootout.
Things I like
1. Happy Birthday to the Montreal Canadiens who had their 100th anniversary on Dec. 4th. I’m sure their fans would like their most recent teams to rival their past success but you can’t have everything.
2. People say that the Sharks have the best line, but they would be wrong. The Devils actually have the best line. Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, and Jamie Langenbrunner (when he’s on the line) have a combined +/- of +43, tops in the league for a forward line.
3. Alex Ovechkin says he won’t change his style of play. Good for him I say, he only knows how to play one way and he isn’t going to change that. He plays with passion and I really don’t find his style that reckless.
4. The Carolina Hurricanes got their first road win of the season against the defending Stanley Cup champs of all teams, extracting some revenge from last years playoff sweep.
Things I don’t
1. Teemu Selanne is injured for about 4-6 weeks in what could very well be his last season. This is a huge blow to an already injured and struggling Ducks team. It will also affect how high Selanne can climb on numerous scoring records. Here’s hoping he doesn’t call it quits after this year.
2. Keith Ballard, a.k.a goalie annihilator, has taken his next victim in Craig Anderson. Ballard knocked Anderson out of the game when he slid towards the net and sent Anderson’s head to the goal post, at least he didn’t send him to the hospital though he is still day to day. Maybe Ballard was tormented by goalies as a kid. If you’re keeping track at home that’s two starting goalies down and 28 to go for Ballard.
3. Hard to imagine but the Pittsburgh Penguins’ power play is 28th overall, yikes. With all the talented scorers on that team you figured they could find the net more.
Stat Line of the Week
12/03/09 Capitals 6 vs. Panthers 2
Skater
TOI
G
A
+/-
SOG
PIM
M. Duco
5:57
0
0
-1
1
27
Mr. Duco racked up 27 minutes of penalty minutes on four penalties on one play against Alexandre Giroux and was ejected from the game. He was getting Giroux back for the elbow he laid on Dmitry Kulikov. Personally I didn’t find Giroux’s hit all that bad. Lesson to be learned don’t mess with the Duco. You can see both hits below.
12/05/09 Capitals 8 vs. Flyers 2
Skater
TOI
G
A
+/-
SOG
PIM
N. Backstrom
19:50
1
4
+1
2
0
The Capitals Swede racked up 5 points, 3 assists on the powerplay, against the Flyers. Ovechkin who?
Box Score of the Week
This won’t be a regular feature, I just thought it was too interesting to pass up. In the Flyers vs. Islanders game, if you look below, 4 players each scored 2 goals back to back without anyone else scoring in between. If they had scored 3 goals each that would have been 4 natural hat tricks in a row. I have no way to look it up but I’m pretty sure the below has never happened before.
1st Period
Philadelphia 9:47, Mike Richards 12 (power play) (Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell)
Philadelphia 15:14, Mike Richards 13 (shorthanded) (unassisted)
Philadelphia 2:35, Claude Giroux 5 (Scott Hartnell)
Did You Know?
Speaking of penalty minutes Randy Holt holds the record for most penalty minutes in one game with 67 set in 1979. He also has the record for most penalty minutes in a period since he got all 67 of those in the 1st period in a game against the Flyers. 45 minutes came on a bench clearing brawl at the end of the period instigated by Holt. He doesn’t hold the record for most penalty minutes for a season though. That record goes to Dave Schultz with 472 penalty minutes set in the 1974-75 season.
Numbers, Numbers
0 – Number of overtime losses for Vancouver.
14 – Number of goals scored by the Capitals in the 2 games Ovechkin was suspended.
103 – Career shutouts for Martin Brodeur tying Terry Sawchuck’s NHL record.
15 – Career shutouts by Ryan Miller who was in the other goal when Brodeur tied the record.
Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.
December 03, 1999 Ottawa’s Kevin Dineen picked up a misconduct penalty to become the fifth player in league history to get 300 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes in his NHL career. The milestone came during a 7-4 Senators loss at New Jersey.
December 04, 2001 Peter Bondra scored his 400th and 401st NHL goals to become the 5th active player to score 400 goals with one team in the Capitals 5-2 win against the visiting New York Rangers.
December 05, 1988 Detroit’s Steve Yzerman set a new team record with a goal in his ninth straight game, a 7-2 Red Wings’ loss at Montreal. Yzerman broke the team record of goals in eight straight games set by Gordie Howe in 1952.
December 06, 1995 Colorado Avalanche obtained goaltender Patrick Roy and Mike Keane from the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky and goalie Jocelyn Thibault.
December 07, 1977 New England Whalers’ Gordie Howe scored his 1,000th professional goal (counting the NHL and WHA) in a WHA Whalers’ game against Birmingham.
December 08, 1999 Pavel Bure scored his 12th career hat trick in the third period to lead the Panthers to a 6-1 win at Phoenix. Panthers set a team record with five goals in the final period, as Mikhail Shtalenkov won in his first start with Florida.
December 08, 1967 Two months into their first NHL season, the “California” Seals officially changed their name to the “Oakland” Seals.
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
1. Washington
2. Chicago
3. Phoenix
4. Boston
5. Minnesota
Bottom 5
30. Philadelphia
29. Columbus
28. Tampa Bay
27. Florida
26. NY Rangers
The Ducks suck, there I’m done. Anyway the Ducks were leading 1-0 against the Stars when they let the Stars score 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd including an empty netter. It was a tough loss for the Ducks who played a good game. To make matters worse Selanne broke his hand in a game he almost sat out because of the flu. Corey Perry’s point streak also came to an end; I think I may have jinxed him. Then there next game against Minnesota taking a 2-1 lead into the 3rd the Ducks were able to make it 4-2. Then they gave up two goals in the final 5 minutes to force overtime, which they of course lost in the shootout. Against Ottawa the Ducks decided to lose differently. They never led in the game and every time the Senators would score, they would tie it within a minute. They then lost in the shootout again.
Next up was the Dallas Stars, again, and the Ducks started off the game in typical Ducks fashion slow. The Stars were up 3-0 before you knew it and it seemed like another loss. But then Joffrey Lupul, who has been on fire since coming back from his injury, scored when Turco made the save on the breakaway but couldn’t put on the breaks as he slid behind the goaline. In the 3rd period instead of sucking as usual, the Ducks dominated the Stars outshooting them 14 to 2 and recently called up rookie Dan Sexton scored 2 goals to force overtime. In the overtime the Ducks continued to dominate and Saku Koivu scored on a 3 on 1 breakaway. All in all a very entertaining game and the Ducks scored 4 unanswered goals, which hopefully gives them something to build upon.
Monday, December 7th, 2009 Written by:
Eric Sutter
The second season in an NHL player’s career can be a make or break one. One could have a tremendous rookie and follow that up with a sophomore slump and never regain the magic touch, or just get their feet wet getting use to the speed and break out as a fantasy star.
This week on the Fantasy Focus we are going to breakdown some of the game’s best sophomore’s and what their fantasy value is today and going forward.
The 2009 Calder Trophy winner is currently in one of the worst sophomore slumps out there today. His ranks in both save percentage (42nd) and goals against (42nd) are second worst, thank god for Vesa Toskala, who is ranked 43rd in both categories. So the question arises for a fantasy owner of what to do with this slumping high draft pick of a goalie?
The good news is with parity in the NHL, the Blue Jackets still have a shot at returning to the playoffs and realize that the 21-year-old Mason presents them with the best shot. Also looking on the bright side in last year’s Calder winning year he put up his best splits in the month of December. Last season, in 12 December games, Mason was 7-5-0, with a 1.41 GAA, .950 save percentage with three shutouts.
This month could be a make or break fantasy month for Mason with 13 remaining games and with only 3 on back-to-back nights. Hold onto Mason for the month and see if he can break out of his early season slump.
The University of Minnesota star made headlines even before his NHL debut skipping out on his college team halfway through the year to join the AHL he would only play nine NHL games that season but contributed five points in those games. His rookie campaign was average playing in only 65 games due to injuries the 6-1 winger accumulated 18 goals and 39 points, hardly a fantasy stud.
This season for Okposo started with a bang as he was knocked out by Dion Phaneuf in a preseason game. After shaking off the effects of a concussion Okposo combined with John Tavares and Matt Moulson have combined for a fantasy dream line.
In his first 28 games, this speedy winger has 5 goals and 16 points, including a blistering 9 power play points. He also continues to show he can contribute to those leagues that count shots (89 already this season).
The Islanders have been a pleasant surprise offensive fantasy so far this season but remember that injuries have been a concern for Okposo.
Simmonds falls into the category of just getting his feet wet in his freshman campaign as he has busted out onto fantasy owners radars with eight points in his last six games. Already matching his goal total of last year with nine, with 19 points the 6-2 winger is four points away from tying his point total of 23 in 82 games.
The Kings have vaulted Simmonds into their top-six forward rotation with the recent injuries and he has taken advantage of the extended ice time, although he won’t contribute to your team’s power play points, he does kill penalties for the Kings.
I would say ride the hot streak Simmonds is currently on but keep on the Ryan Smyth injury news for that might affect his playing time going forward.
As I mention in yesterday’s Hat Trick Philadelphia Flyers starting goalie Ray Emery is 0-4-0 in his last five starts and has 5.36 goals-against average and .814 save percentage, because of the recent slump backup goalie Brian Boucher has been seeing more ice time.
In league full of inconsistent goalie’s and rotations keep an eye on this situation as with a new coach comes new life for certain players. Boucher’s numbers in the last six games have been decent, with three starts with a GAA of 2.28 and a save percentage of .913.
The 32-year-old net minder has been known to go on ridiculous long stretches of amazing play, breaking the modern-day NHL record for the longest shutout streak by a goalie with Phoenix in 2003.
Sunday, December 6th, 2009 Written by:
Eric Sutter
The season has officially started we had our first NHL coach firing; I will have more about that later, and the league also made Alex Ovechkin angry this week by handing out a two-game suspension for his knee-to-knee hit. I was glad to see the NHL suspend the Russian for the hit, for all his talents Ovechkin plays with a sort of edge and good to see the league not give him the superstar treatment.
His edge is what makes Ovechkin a special player and I also don’t see this suspension taking it away, should be fun to watch this week, now onto the Pucking Awesome Hat Trick and the top three story lines I am watching this week.
Flyers Fallout:
A sexy preseason pick for the Cup have not looked anything like it and the recent slide caused John Stevens his job, as Peter Laviolette takes over the fading Flyers. The once powerful power play has been nonexistent in the recent four game slide going an abysmal 0 for their last 17 man advantages.
The undisciplined play has also been catching up to them giving up six power play goals along this current losing streak. The Ray Emery experiment has taken a turn for the worse as Emery has a 5.36 goals-against average and .814 save percentage in his last five starts.
The Flyers now turn to the theory that changing a coach can change the culture of the team, but unlike the Stanley Cup Champions a year ago this team seems to be lacking the maturity of a team destined for greatness. I will be watching the fallout this week as Laviolette tries to turn this talented team around and ask them to grow up or the next thing to change will be the core roster.
DiPietro Recovery:
I don’t know if it is a recovery from injury or the Islanders trying to recover some return on the tremendous investment on the often injured goalie. When healthy there is no denying the pure talent of Rick DiPietro but with only five starts in the last two years the brass on Long Island were expecting more from the goalie they signed to a monster 15-year contract back in September 2006.
Although he shares the birthday with a Pucking Awesome writer it seems that this contract has been a bust up to this point, though he has 12 years on the back end to make it up to the organization. Now comes the good news for Islanders fans after practicing with the team for about a week and a half the former number one overall pick suited up for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday.
In all reports he looked like he had been off for the last 11 months giving up three goals on 13 shots. In his post game interview DiPietro stated “It’s been a long time since I played in a meaningful game. Nerves, excitement. These guys have been great. It was good to get back in there and shake the rust off. There’s still a lot of work to be done.” I will be keeping my eye on the valiant return of Rick DiPietro not only for the sake of the Islanders organization but for the goalie trade wheels that will be circling this club that will have three NHL starting goalies.
Game Of The Week:Wild at Coyotes
The week gets started off right this week as the two hottest teams facing off Monday night, oh yes the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild face off at Jobing.com Arena. The Coyotes are one of the best stories of the early season. In their current four-game winning streak 10 different Coyotes have scored a goal and Ilya Bryzgalov has been outstanding with a 1.75 GAA and has been outstanding at home with a 10-3-0 record.
The Wild have turned their season around with a five-game winning streak and been riding a white hot top line of Center Mikko Koivu and linemates Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen. They have combined for 23 points during their current winning streak and that is with Miettinen missing three games due to the swine flu.
The week gets kicked off in style as one of the hottest lines in hockey faces one of the hottest goalies in a surprise scary good match up, I will be watching how about you?
I was downright giddy Thursday night over NHL hockey with must see pucks everywhere.
Five out of eight games were decided in overtime or a shootout, we saw the goal of the year (CLICK FOR AMAZING GOAL), a player get knocked unconscious (CLICK FOR BIG HIT), and a slaughter in Calgary (Chicago Blackhawks 7, Flames 1).
In Carolina, the league’s two worst teams—the Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs—scored twice in the final 30 seconds including the tying goal with 2.9 ticks left on the clock to force extra time.
You want a good gauge on how great this night was? The buzz on NHL action at ESPN around midnight was greater than the excitement over Dolphins running back Ricky Williams’ 3 touchdowns that probably won fantasy football players their week 11 games after just one night.
Now, with each team having played roughly 20 games we’ve reached the quarter pole of the season—exactly what did we know and what have we learned?
We know Alex Ovechkin is the league’s best goal scorer, but we didn’t know just how great he is. In 15 games so far this season, he has 15 goals and despite missing over two weeks with a shoulder injury, he still leads the league in shots on goal with 87. Assuming he stays healthy the rest of the way, there’s no reason to believe he can’t reach 70 goals and another Hart Trophy will be in Ovechkin’s hands.
I knew the L.A. Kings would be better this year, I never imagined they’d be this good or Anze Kopitar would rapidly become one of the game’s elite. With 14 goals and 32 points, Kopitar would win the MVP for players not named Ovechkin.
We know the Blackhawks are one of the best teams in the league, but we didn’t know just how good they would be. Star winger Marian Hossa hasn’t even touched the ice yet and the hawks are 13-5-2. Personally, I thought they’d have to merely tread water until Hossa made his debut. With his return imminent, it’s time for the league to be very afraid of the uprising in the windy city.
The Blackhawks already rank near the top of the league in goals per game, 2nd in goals against per game (47 goals allowed in 20 games) and have the top penalty killing percentage in the league–all while being hit hard by injuries thus far (Adam Burish, Ben Eager, Jonathan Toews, Dave Bolland and Brent Seabrook) have all missed multiple games. Not only are they emerging as a legitimate cup contender but this might be the best coaching job of Joel Quenneville’s career. He’s the early nominee for coach of the year.
On the flip side, we knew the Maple Leafs would be bad—3 wins in 20 games is another story. However, we didn’t know the Carolina Hurricanes would be giving Toronto a run for their money in the battle for the top draft pick in 2011. Last year’s eastern conference runners-up have 4 wins in 21 games and their best player (Eric Staal) and star goalie (Cam Ward) are both on IR. It’s already time to focus on Duke and UNC hoops in Raleigh.
Sure, number 1 overall draft picks could go the way of Alexander Daigle or Patrik Stefan, so while it’s safe to say we knew Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos would be a star we didn’t know he’d be the main attraction in Florida. With 14 goals already and the aforementioned goal of the year, Stamkos has quickly become a force.
On the other hand, nobody knew about the rapid decline of teammate Vincent Lecavalier. Coming off a poor season, the Lightning signed their veteran center to a multi-year extension, which was supposed to put his mind at ease by ending any and all trade talk. Lecavalier has responded with 4 goals and just 18 points in 19 games and is no longer an All-Star caliber player.
Meanwhile, we knew Islanders rookie John Tavares—the No. 1 overall pick in 2010—would be good. There were too many Sidney Crosby comparisons for him to disappoint. Yet, he’s somehow exceeded expectations. While his 9 goals and 10 assists are mighty impressive, we could not have known he’d be able to lift his lifeless franchise out of the cellar and into the hunt for a playoff spot. Keep in mind, this is still without goalie Rick DiPietro, who still hasn’t played this season but is nearing a return. Could there be playoff hockey on Long Island? The fact that this question is even legitimate is completely shocking.
Finally, we all know hockey is a physically grueling sport that can be dangerous at times but dirty hits and concussions have entered dark territory. The NHL needs to find a way to better protect its players or we’ll soon be reading about permanent brain damage like NFL legends battle with. We don’t know how the NHL can do this—maybe bigger helmets or stricter penalties and suspensions? Whatever the solution, it better come quick.
We know there’s still plenty to learn with many months remaining, but early reviews on the first quarter are looking good—we know the 2009-10 season could be one for the ages.
Monday, November 9th, 2009 Written by:
Eric Sutter
On this Veterans Day, I first want to send a thank you to all those serving to defend our country. There has been some major defending of nets this season, but not the usual suspects. The Top Three in GAA are Canucks Andrew Raycroft, Sabres Ryan Miller, and Lightning Antero Niittymaki, and we can’t forgot how good Craig Anderson has been for the Avalanche. Now let’s delve into the Pucking Awesome Hat Trick, or the Top Three things I am watching for this week.
The Atlantic Division has had four playoff teams for three straight seasons, can they have five this postseason? The defending champion Penguins don’t look like they have a Stanley Cup hangover, and are performing well without Malkin, and Gonchar. The Flyers have finally found a scoring grove as they are near the top of the league in goals per game, and power play percentage.
The Devils are playing Jaques Lemaire hockey, and get back top-scorer Patrik Elias. The Rangers look rejuvenated with Gaborik, Prospal, and the young defensemen, and by the way they still have, Henrik Lundqvist. Watch out for the Islanders also, after a tough start to the season the Youngblood line (Tavares, Okposo, and Moulson) have combined for 32 points in first 16 games. I will be watching this tough division all season, and predict at least four will be playing in the second season.
2.) Hall Opens Up
On Monday, the Hockey Hall of Fame opens the door to five more members. Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille, and Steve Yzerman are elected in the player category, and Lou Lamoriello elected in the builders category. A great class for sure, with two pillars of American hockey, all having over 1,000 points, three having over 600-goals, and of course the architect of a dynasty.
Congrats to those players, and their families, and I am looking forward to the debate of the class of 2010, which will involve the controversial discussion of Eric Lindros, and his place in the Hall.
3.) Game of the Week
Roberto Luongo returns: Roberto Luongo is set to return this week from a rib injury, he was slated to come back versus the Blues in the Canucks first game this week Tuesday in St Louis, but the flu has disrupted that plan. Whenever the all-world goalie reappears, it will be a big day for Vancouver. Andre Raycroft has done a solid job with a 4-1 record, a 1.71 GAA ,and 0.935 save percentage in the five games starting in place of Luongo, but the Stanley Cup chances hinge on Bobby Lou being healthy.
Monday, October 19th, 2009 Written by:
Eric Sutter
Roster spots are important on a fantasy team, this week we will look at some fringe players that are struggling early and should they continue to take an importunate place on our teams or enter the waiver wire.
Ryane Clowe, LW Sharks: The big forward broke out last season with 22 goals and 52 points and helped many fantasy teams with an amazing 24 power play points and 51 PIM. This season he lost his line mates (Milan Michalek in Dany Heatley trade and Joe Pavelski to early injury) but was suppose to bring secondary scoring. So far he has been a fantasy disappointment scoring just one assist in the first eight games; he still has been getting some PIM with 27. I think the 27-year-old, 6-2 forward is worth the roster spot, he still plays big time minutes including on the second power play unit (2:49 PP TOI/G) and is just felling the pressure to live up to his new 4-year contract but will break out of this slump.
Jason Blake, LW Maple Leafs: This guy is owned in 65% of leagues and still living off his 40-goal season in 2006-07 with the Islanders. Yes he did bounce back and score 25 goals in his second in Toronto including 5 power play goals. This season Blake as the whole Maple Leafs’ team are struggling defensively as he is a -7, and he is not scoring at the same pace to make that worth a roster spot. The Maple Leafs’ are rebuilding and will start to give his important minutes to younger players and is not worth a roster spot in fantasy.
T.J. Oshie, C Blues: A former first round pick out of North Dakota, Oshie had an up and down rookie year but was primed to be a fantasy stud in his sophomore season. So far he is a fantasy dud scoring only one goal and assisting on two others, even worse he is getting minimal power play time. This is a tough call to make as the Blues have both Andy McDonald and Paul Kariya healthy this season and both seeing significant minutes. If you are in a 12-team league he might be worth to stash for safe keeping but in a 10-team league I would say drop him and keep him on your watch list.
Waiver Wire Pickup of the Week: Matt Moulson or Kyle Okposo, Islanders F: If one or both of these talented young forwards are available jump on the claim. Moulson is available in more leagues than Okposo (owned only 20% vs. 70%) but both have been scoring at a fast pace (Moulson with 7 points and Okposo with 6 points in the first six games). The Islanders will struggle on the ice but that should not discount them from being fantasy options. Okposo and Moulson were both big time college scorers and are playing on a line together with John Tavares in both five on five and power play (Moulson with 4 PP and Okposo with 3 PP).
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 Written by:
Alex Mueller
Welcome to the inaugural column of Between the Pipes, a weekly feature giving you quotes, top fights, who or what is hot and not, stats, goalie spotlight, and many other information from around the league. What an opening week it has been so far.
The number one thing I am looking forward to this season, just like any other season, is the biggest jumps, up or down by a team. For example when Boston was the 8th seed and Montreal the 1st seed in 2008 and they subsequently swapped places the next season in 2009. This year I figured Anaheim will jump up the most as they were the 8th seed last year. I peg them anywhere from 2st to 5th this year. Of course technically they were tied for 6th last year but they were still officially the 8th seed. The Avalanche have a possibility to nab the 8th seed which would be quite a jump up, don’t laugh it’s possible. For biggest tumble I can’t really see anyone dropping more than 3 spots, which I don’t think is enough of a drop to warrant a mention, but you know some team will.
You also have to wonder what the effects on the possible move/sale and the leaving of coach Gretzky will have on the Phoenix Coyotes, though it does look like they are staying in Phoenix for now. Granted Gretzky didn’t really seem to have an impact on the team but I can’t imagine the possibility of a move doesn’t have an affect on them. On the other hand it might motivate them to play better and it sure looked like it worked vs. the Kings.
The biggest surprises of the week were probably Colorado blanking Vancouver 3-0. I bet no one saw that coming, and the demolishing of Carolina by Boston 7-2. It’s not that Boston won the game it’s the score. I think Boston may still be bitter about last year’s playoff exit, just a little.
Goalie Spotlight
This feature will highlight a goalie every week. I will strive to do a few paragraphs on a different goalie every week, and I won’t base it on their past week’s performance. However, depending on how hot a goalie is during a given week, I may just discuss that.
Many “experts” predict Craig Anderson will be this year’s version of Tim Thomas, a longtime journeyman who becomes a superstar. Of course Thomas backstopped the Bruins to the best record in the Eastern Conference last year; I don’t think Anderson will be able to replicate that in the West. If Anderson sounds familiar it’s because he posted back-to-back shutouts last year, and in one shutout he set the NHL record for most saves (53). Despite his success last year, he was unable to wrestle away the top spot from Tomas Vokoun in Florida, despite having more of an upside based on being 5 years younger, and he became a free agent.
Anderson turned down offers from other teams to sign with the Avalanche, and relegate former starting goalie Peter Budaj to the bench. “It’s a dream come true,” Anderson said. “It was the place I wanted to be, a city I’ve always loved. I think it’s a great opportunity for me, and I want to be part of the solution bringing the team back.” [1] At 6 feet 2 inches Anderson is one of the taller goalies in the league and plays with a butterfly style made famous by his idol (and mine) Patrick Roy, who of course led the Avs to two Stanley Cups. The Avalanche believe they have found their goalie of the future and with Stastny, Wolski, and third overall pick Duchene are starting to form a nice nucleus to bring them back to respectability.
Fights of the Week
Everyone loves hockey fights! Some people watch only for the fights, sad because the rest of the game is even better. This feature will comb through all the past weeks fights to bring you the best.
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
This fight was interesting because of the sheer amount of time they took sizing each other up before they engaged. Brasher started hot but I think Goddard won overall.
Right off the face-off with this fight, literally, I don’t even think they cared who won the face-off. Both had some great punches, I give the win to Gagner though.
Like the Brasher vs. Goddard fight a lot of sizing up time, afterward Thornton basically makes Alberts his bitch. Bonus points to the announcer who really seemed to get into the fight. “Call off the fight, it’s a bloodletting!” Not sure where but alright!
Goat of the Week
Nikolai Khabibulin – Speaking of goalies, Khabibulin’s whiff of playing the puck in the final minute of a tied game, led to a gift goal and a win for the Flames. This was in the home opener no less, talk about silencing the home crowd. Further proof of why I always say goalies should stay between the pipes.
Tweet of the Week
According to Sportsin140 the NHL has the least amount of tweeters of the four major sports. Which should make it hard to find decent tweets for this section, but I figured it would still be fun. The NHL is, however, the first League to have all their teams tweeting.
So where’s the tweet you say? Unfortunately I couldn’t find a good one, if this keeps up, I’ll close this section. C’mon players tweet!
Things I like
1. Tavares in New York, assuming the Islanders stay there, was a great draft choice that joins the Islanders other great top picks like Ryan O’Marra, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey…. okay maybe not. But Tavares has the skills to lead the Islanders back to respectability and maybe some of it will rub onto line-mate and 2006 7th overall pick Okposo.
2. Ovechkin picking up right where he left off and then some. Though he didn’t win the scoring title last year, I suspect he will win it this year. The real challenge is whether he can bring his shooting percentage back from respectability after his paltry .106 percentage last year. So far, 5 goals in 3 games not to shabby.
3. The St. Louis Blues for their collective effort of beating the Red Wings, not once but two nights in a row, all the way over in Sweden. Also good to see Paul Kariya back recovered from injury and in top form, I’m sure the Blues are glad too.
4. Ray Emery, although only 2 games in, has seemed like a worthwhile addition to the Flyers including a shutout of Carolina opening day. If he can stay out of trouble this may led to bigger and better things. I know the Flyers and their fans are hoping for that. Of course last night he gave up 5 goals to the Capitals, but then again it was the Capitals.
Things I don’t
1. Robert Luongo, who I always thought was a tad overrated, has apparently regressed. The last time we saw him he gave up 7 goals to the Blackhawks, I don’t think that sat well with him. Reminds me of Jake Delhomme’s meltdown with the Panthers in the NFL Playoffs and then his starts the following year, he said it didn’t bother him, but later admitted it did. Maybe Luongo has the same mental block. It’s not time to turn to Raycroft yet, but if he keeps this up the Canucks may not have a choice.
2. Martin Brodeur one of the true legends of the games may be slipping. Like Luongo he had a playoff meltdown as he let in some weak goalies against Carolina in last year’s playoff, including the two late goals in the game 7 stunner. He has now given up 8 goals in 2 games. It didn’t sit well with me that they let go of Clemmensen, you hope it doesn’t come back to haunt the Devils.
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing, not who I think is better or how they will end the season.
Top 5
1. Pittsburgh
2. Philadelphia
3. Washington
4. Calgary
5. Colorado
Bottom 5
30. Vancouver
29. New Jersey
28. Carolina
27. Tampa Bay
26. Toronto
Ducks Watch (My team)
The Ducks were embarrassed in their home opener against San Jose, and Hiller seems to have lost some of his mojo. They looked real good up 3-0 to the Wild after 2 periods. They then promptly lost that lead, giving up 3 goals in the 3rd, not playing awful but not playing great either. Then in overtime Wisniewski takes a beyond stupid penalty by sucker punching a Wild right in front of the ref, ugh. Gave me flashbacks to all those games that ended with Pronger sitting in the penalty box. Minnesota promptly scores on the power play. On the plus side Anaheim got a point and at least looked like they might get better as the season progresses and they continue to gel.
Well I hope you liked the column any suggestions, comments, and/or feedback are always welcomed.
First night jitters abound as players sit in the locker room. Some have been here many times, and others are here for the very first time. So let’s get right to it and light the lamp on the first Hat Trick of the season, or the top three things I am looking for this opening weekend of hockey.
1.) New Faces in New Places: How will the new guys fit in? This is the biggest question facing 30 teams this weekend. From promising rookies, to big time free agents, these are the players are fans are excited to. Which of these players make an immediate impact will be great to watch this weekend. Three specific new faces I will be watching are John Tavares in Long Island, Chris Pronger in Philadelphia and Marian Gaborik in Manhattan.
2.) Hockey overseas: Last year’s Premier Event saw all four of the coaches get fired before the end of the season. (Rangers: Tom Renney, Penguins: Michel Therien, Senators: Craig Hartsburg, Lightning: Barry Melrose) Now I am not saying that the four coaches participating in this seasons Premeir Event have to watch out for the pink slips, but it was a telling sign that these teams all struggled mid-season. I am interested to see how these 4 teams manage with the different beginning to season; I just hope it is not like Michael Scott and Jim’s start to being co-bosses in “The Office”.
3.) Panic or Patience: Which teams will panic after the first week of the season, making internal rosters moves, or dare I say coaching change? Which teams will show the necessary patience? While it is always important to come out of the gates strong, I think it is also important to understand that this season is a marathon. It will be interesting to watch which teams will panic and which teams will have the patience needed to build a stable foundation for a winner.
Not only are they emerging as a legitimate cup contender but this might be the best coaching job of 
1.) New Faces in New Places: How will the new guys fit in? This is the biggest question facing 30 teams this weekend. From promising rookies, to big time free agents, these are the players are fans are excited to. Which of these players make an immediate impact will be great to watch this weekend. Three specific new faces I will be watching are John Tavares in Long Island, Chris Pronger in Philadelphia and Marian Gaborik in Manhattan.
2.) Hockey overseas: Last year’s Premier Event saw all four of the coaches get fired before the end of the season. (Rangers: Tom Renney, Penguins: Michel Therien, Senators: Craig Hartsburg, Lightning: Barry Melrose) Now I am not saying that the four coaches participating in this seasons Premeir Event have to watch out for the pink slips, but it was a telling sign that these teams all struggled mid-season. I am interested to see how these 4 teams manage with the different beginning to season; I just hope it is not like Michael Scott and Jim’s start to being co-bosses in “The Office”.
3.) Panic or Patience: Which teams will panic after the first week of the season, making internal rosters moves, or dare I say coaching change? Which teams will show the necessary patience? While it is always important to come out of the gates strong, I think it is also important to understand that this season is a marathon. It will be interesting to watch which teams will panic and which teams will have the patience needed to build a stable foundation for a winner.
