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Between the Pipes – NHL Recap Week 19

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 Written by: Alex Mueller

IIya found a home… for now – Well the IIya Kovalchuk watch can officially end, until this season is over. Of course this is old news by now, but it happened and I’m recapping the week so deal with it! A great pick-up by New Jersey they really didn’t give up much except for that number 1 pick. If they can re-sign Ilya they made out like gangbusters. If they can’t well even though they didn’t give up much, giving up something for nothing is never a good thing. Even if they win the cup this year and he leaves, I still think it’s a waste. They probably have a good chance of re-assigning him but they will have to pay. As of now the move hasn’t really paid off. The Devils are 1-2 since acquiring him and it could very well have been 0-3 if it wasn’t for their three goal 3^rd period rally against Toronto. It will probably take awhile for Kovalchuk to adjust to his new linemates.

As for the Thrashers, well what can you say; this team bleeds talent like no other. I still can’t wait for them to leave Atlanta. I think that will solve most of their problems. But that’s a topic for another discussion. It’s great they will have two 1st round picks in this year’s draft. Let’s hope they get some quality talent they can actually keep in Atlanta, for once.

Goalie Spotlight

Tomas Vokoun – Florida Panthers

So who are the league leaders in shutouts? That would be Martin Brodeur and Tomas Vokoun each with seven so far. Vokoun is one of those unheralded guys in the league. He doesn’t get much fanfare but goes out and puts up some decent numbers.

The Czech born Vokoun was drafted in 1994 by the Montreal Canadiens, he played only one game for them and gave up four goals in one period. Between 1994 and 1994 he played in Czechoslovakia, for the ECHL and AHL. He was then chosen by the Predators in the 1998 expansion draft. He split time between the Predators and the IHL his first two seasons, though he mostly played for the Predators. It wasn’t until the 2002-03 season, after Mike Dunham was traded, that Vokoun became the starter.

After he became the starter he posted solid numbers on a regular basis and set many franchise records. Of course at this point the franchise was only about five years old. He holds the franchise record for wins in a season (36), all-time wins (134), all-time losses (147) and goaltender games played (340). During the lockout year he went to play for the Finnish league SM-liiga. He led HIFK Helsinki to an 11-4-4 record with a .940SV%. However in the playoffs he folded big time with an .846SV%, worst in the league.

From 2006 on Vokoun suffered health issues ranging from blood-clotting to thumb surgery. During this time back-up Chris Mason emerged as the starter. Subsequently Vokoun was traded to the Florida Panthers, for draft picks, right before the 2007 draft. He made the All-Star team his first year with the Panthers and 2^nd time overall he was selected. Vokoun made headlines this season when he was hit in the head with his own teammates, Keith Ballard, stick. Vokoun is posting decent numbers again this season and he is hoping to backstop the Panthers into the playoffs this year, a feat he almost accomplished last season.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Rick Rypien vs. Chris Neil

I good high intensity battle one of the few fights Rypien hasn’t dominated that he was in.

Tanner Glass vs. Matt Carkner

Carkner makes Glass his punching bag.

Dominic Moore vs. Zach Bogosian

Bogosian gets in a sneaky upper cut and that was the end of that.

Jody Shelley vs. Colton Orr

Shelley knocks out Orr with his 2nd punch.

Goat of the Week

Patrick Lalime – Buffalo Sabres

Lalime doesn’t play much backing up Ryan Miller and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon after this play. The puck did take a funny bounce off the boards but you have to be prepared, Lalime wasn’t and it bounced off his skate into the net.

Things I like

1. Great game between the Penguins and Capitals before the Super Bowl. Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick and assisted on the game winner in overtime and Sidney Crosby had two goals. Despite NBC’s constant drooling over Crosby and Ovechkin, they managed to mention former Hart trophy winner Evgeni Malkin. Hey NBC doesn’t winning the Hart Trophy mean your some kind of skilled hockey player?

2. Speaking of Ovechkin he notched his 500^th point this week in 373 games the fastest to 500 since Eric Lindros did it in 352 games. You remember Lindros right?

3. There are only two teams that have 7 players above 35 or more points each. One of them is the Washington Capitals which I’m sure most of you would guess but I bet you can’t guess the other one. I’ll give you the answer later in the column.

4. The Maple Leafs are getting Jiggy with it. After debuting in Toronto with a shutout, Jean-Sebastien Giguere decided to follow that up with another shutout. He made 30 saves again. His shutout streak came to an end against San Jose though, as he gave up three goals in a losing effort. If he had shutout the Sharks, I’m sure they would be celebrating in Toronto like they just won the super bowl, jk.

Things I don’t

1. NHL scheduling quirks, the Maple Leafs and Devils played each other in three of the last four games. Is that really necessary? How about a little more space in between games NHL?

2. NBC explaining why you fight in a hockey game during the Penguins vs. Capitals. Please stop NBC. Next NBC will explain why you try and score goals, ugh.

3. I’d like to give my condolences to Brian Burke who lost his son Brendan Burke. He died in a car accident driving on a snowy road. As a former Mid-Atlantic resident, I know how difficult it can be to drive on snow and ice. A person should never have to outlive their children.

Trivia: The answer to the other team besides the Capitals would be the Los Angeles Kings.

Stat Line of the Week

02/06/10 Toronto 5 vs. Ottawa 0

Skater	TOI	G	A	+/-	SOG	PIM
L. Schenn	21:40	2	1	+4	4	2

Well there were many fine performances this week but I chose to highlight Schenn’s performance. A 5^th overall selection, by the Maple Leafs, in his second season he is starting to develop into what the Maple Leafs had hoped when they drafted him. He was on the ice for four of the Maple Leaf’s five goals and he scored two of them himself.

Did You Know?

Patrick Roy is the only net minder to give up an opponent’s 500th career goal more than once. The players who have scored their 500^th on Roy are: Steve Yzerman in 1996, Joe Mullen in 1997 and Brendan Shanahan in 2002.

Numbers, Numbers – the streak edition

14 – The Washington Capital’s current winning streak.

11 – The winning streak by the Ottawa Senators which came to an end against Toronto.

10 – The losing streak by the Boston Bruins which came to an end against Montreal.

16 – Would be the games points streak by Alex Ovechkin if he scored against the Islanders on 1/26 but he didn’t so it’s now six games.

10 – The current winning streak for home wins for the Anaheim Ducks

This Week in Hockey History

Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.

February 04, 1987 Wayne Gretzky scored his 50th goal of the season, to lead the Oilers to a 6-5 win over the North Stars at Minnesota. It was Gretzky’s eighth straight 50 goal season.

February 05, 1996 Colorado’s Patrick Roy became the 4th goaltender in NHL history to win 10 or more games with two teams in one season, when the Avalanche had a 4-2 win over the visiting Canadiens. Roy had won 12 games with Montreal before being traded.

February 06, 1993 Mike Gartner scored four goals and an assist (including a first period hat trick) to lead the Wales Conference to a 16-6 win over the Campbells, at the All Star Game in Montreal. Pierre Turgeon had three goals & two assists in the game

February 07, 1987 Cam Neely scored his first career NHL hat trick as the Bruins won 8-5 over the Maple Leafs in Boston.

February 08, 2004 Joe Sakic scored a hat trick to lead the Western Conference to a 6-4 win over the East, in the NHL All Star game played in Minnesota. Daniel Alfredsson led the East with two goals and an assist.

February 09, 1971 Vancouver Canucks ended their team-record 11 game home winless streak (0-10-1) with a 6-3 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres. Rosaire Paiement led the Canucks with a team-record four goals (his first career hat trick).

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Washington
2. Ottawa
3. Los Angeles
4. San Jose
5. Vancouver

Bottom 5

30. Edmonton
29. Boston
28. NY Islanders
27. Buffalo
26. NY Rangers

Anaheim Ducks Watch

The Ducks seem to have the Red Wings number at home lately and Wednesday was no different. They Jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, prevailing 3-1. Hiller was sensational stopping 46 of 47 shots. The Ducks were firing on all cylinders with Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf leading the charge.

Next though they had to play the Kings in back to back games. They haven’t won the 2^nd game in any of the back to backs this year and this time was no different. They quickly feel behind 4-1 only to crawl back and tie the game 4-4. Dustin Brown scored the game winner on a wide open net, a goal that was poorly defended by Anaheim. They gave up another goal after that and ended up losing 6-4. Memo to NHL book teams playing back to back games as little as possible. I’m pretty sure it can be done.

Next up was the Kings, wait didn’t I just type that, o wait that’s right the NHL doesn’t know how to schedule; either that or this is baseball. It was a great fast paced game with lots of chances. After the 1^st which was tied 1-1 and saw Teemu Selanne net number 597, the Ducks dominated the 2^nd period. Saku Koivu netted the game winner when he scored the puck and then himself. Surprisingly there was no scoring in the 3^rd and the Ducks prevailed 4-2 and got those much needed two points. Unfortunately Ryan Getzlaf sprained his ankle and it didn’t look pretty. X-rays at this point are negative and I hope they stay that way.

Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Brendan Burke, Brian Burke, Buffalo Sabres, Chris Mason, Chris Neil, Colton Orr, Dominic Moore, Eric Lindros, Evgeni Malkin, Florida Panthers, IIya Kovalchuk, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Jody Shelley, Keith Ballard, Los Angeles Kings, Luke Schenn, Matt Carkner, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, Patrick Lalime, Patrick Roy, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rick Rypien, Ryan Getzlaf, Sidney Crosby, Tanner Glass, Tomas Vokoun, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, Zach Bogosian
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FANTASY FOCUS: Injuries and Trades Shake Up the Waiver Wire

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 Written by: Eric Sutter

After a quick trip to South Beach to enjoy some fun and sun during Super Bowl week, I’m back for some much needed push before the Olympic break. First of all congratulations to the city of New Orleans and their championship; I am sure Mardi Gras is going to be crazy this upcoming weekend. Now, let’s get to the Pucking Awesome Fantasy Focus and look at the Waiver Wire for some gems.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Maple Leafs G:

People were sent scrambling to the Waiver Wire to pick up this former Stanley Cup winning goalie when the news he had been traded to Toronto and gone from backup to starter. Word came out that he will be getting the bulk of the starts and now his ownership is up 12%, so please don’t hesitate anymore and pick up this former Conn Smyth winner.

The Leafs will have a lot to play for as the season draws to a close, for they do not own their own first-round pick, lost to Boston in the Phil Kessel deal. I also see a much improved defensive team in front of Giguere due to the same day acquisition of Dion Phaneuf.

The 32-year-old goaltender had hit a rough part of his career starting last season, enduring the loss of his father, then seeing his playing time cut into by the upstart Jonas Hiller. When the 27-year-old Swiss was named the playoff goalie, the ending was written in the sand for Giguere to move on. Now the goalie has a chance to show he can still play and should help fantasy teams in the playoff stretch.

Joe Corvo, Hurricanes D:

The puck moving defenseman has returned after missing 28 games with a right leg injury and the offensive defenseman should now be activated in all accounts for fantasy purposes. Corvo had 12 points in 27 games prior to going down with the injury and was immediately thrown back into the fire, playing over 23 minutes in his three games back.

Corvo will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, so his name will be coming up in trade rumors and either way he seems healthy enough to contribute to a fantasy team on whichever team he suits up for. Don’t forget that the 32-year-old offensive defenseman is coming off a year that saw him score 14 goals and 38 points.

The 6’0″ defenseman will also help your fantasy team with power play points; he already has four power play goals this year and had 22 power play points last year. Corvo is also a plus player with a +41 rating for his career.

David Booth, Panthers W:

I am very surprised to put this talented winger on a Waiver Wire article but the reality is that David Booth, coming off a scary concussion injury, is only owned in about 60 percent of leagues. Most people are shying away from a player that is one check away from being out for the year, but I say risk it.

Booth missed 45 games due to the concussion but has been back playing for about a week now. The injury to his top linemate Nathan Horton hurts his point potential, but that again still does not overrule the fact that this guy can flat out score.

The 25-year-old had 31 goals and 60 points last year on an offensively challenged Florida Panther team. Booth teams up with Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik to create a scary top line that can also cause problems on the power play. The concussion will be hanging over this kid’s head for the rest of the season, as it cost him a shot at the Canadian Olympic team, but it should not slow him down as he attempts to make this more than a lost season.

Matthew Stajan, Flames C:

Acquired in the big Dion Phaneuf deal, Stajan has ascended to the top line playing in the middle of Jerome Iginla and former Leaf teammate Niklas Hagman. Now, you don’t have to be an expert to know that playing alongside Iginla has made fantasy studs out of normal players (Cammalerri, Conroy, Langkow, Huselius to name a few).

The 26-year-old center was already having a career year with his 17 goals and inching closer to his career high in points (55 last season). The former second-round pick also will contribute on the top power play unit as he had 13 power play points with the Leafs. The player that scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game has already chipped in his first goal with the Flames, and expect more as the season rolls on.

Tags: Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, David Booth, Fantasy, Fantasy Hockey, Florida Panthers, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Joe Corvo, Matthew Stajan, Toronto Maple Leafs
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Between the Pipes – NHL Recap Week 18

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 Written by: Alex Mueller

Greetings from Seattle, colder and wetter than Southern California, and home to no hockey teams, thank you Gary Bettman.

Wheelings and Dealings – Brian Burke has been a busy man and so has Darryl Sutter. Jean-Sebastian Giguere to Toronto had been rumored all season and finally happened. So it isn’t really surprising. It’s sad to seem him leave Anaheim but in the “what have you done for me lately” world of sports, the answer for Giguere would be nothing. Best of luck in Toronto Jiggy, where you will be re-united with your former goalie coach. Toronto also picked up Dion Phaneuf to help solidify their defense. Most of the time it’s good for a veteran, whose played a while in the same place and is struggling, to go to another team to rejuvenize his career. Toronto sure hopes that is the case this time. Burke had some questionable calls toward the end of his tenure in Anaheim that I didn’t care for. This includes the handling of Bobby Ryan, Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne, Scott Neidermayer and Dustin Penner. But I like that he is shaking up the Maple Leafs and he is acquiring key pieces without really giving anything up. As good as the Giguere and Phaneuf pickups are, what may really be the best acquisition is how good the 6 foot 6 Keith Aulie ends up being. If he ends up being a star this deal was defiantly more than worth it and then some.

On the other hand…. It’s very interesting to me that I wrote about the Flames last week and how a shake-up was needed, you know get creative. I don’t think this was quite what I had in mind. Darryl Sutter obviously had other thoughts. I’m not sure trading two struggling stars; I used that term loosely, for a bunch of third rate NHL’ers is the way to go. If they would have traded Jay Bouwmeester instead of Phaneuf, and in effect it’s almost the same thing, that would have sent the message, “Hi I’m Darryl Sutter the two moves I made last season to strengthen our team didn’t work, so I am starting over. I also have no idea what this team needs to win the Cup.” Giving up after a year and starting over shows you don’t really know what chemistry your team needs and you have no faith in your players. This certainly doesn’t make a winning combination. I had high hopes for the Flames this year but I don’t think they will be making the playoffs this year. The cup runner up team of 2004 seems so long ago. Neither of the players they received from the Rangers for Olli Jokinen have much of an upside. Plus as I mentioned above if Aulie becomes a star Sutter is really going to be roasted, more so than he is now. Though he probably won’t be in Calgary by the time we know the verdict on Aulie. I’m having a hard time figuring out what the Flames gained in any of these trades. Unless they are just unloading everyone since Niklas Hagman and Ales Kotalik are the only one still under contract after this season. I do wonder if Brandon Prust will make his way back to Calgary as he did when he was traded for Jokinen. It makes you wonder how Prust feels to be traded with the same player he was traded to get just a year ago.

Goalie Spotlight

None this week, will be back next week

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

This week had the least amount of fights to pick from this season.

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond vs. Jay Rosehill

Pretty decent, but messy fight, that features the best French name ever!

Colin White vs Dion Phaneuf

This fight is selected because there are no other decent fights this week and it is the first fight for Phaneuf as a Maple Leaf.

Goat(s) of the Week

Johan Hedberg – Atlanta Thrashers

He didn’t really do anything goatish but he got his jersey stuck over his head and couldn’t see, which is just funny. I’m glad he didn’t get hurt though.

Ryan Miller – Buffalo Sabres

Ryan Miller questionably attempts to clear the puck from behind the net passing it behind his back which bounces off of Tyler Myers into Crosby’s stick and he scores a goal which Miller had a chance to stop but failed again. Not the best sequence for Miller.

Things I like

1. Sidney Crosby almost had a natural hat trick against the Sabres on Monday night. He has really carried the penguins this year, since Malkin has struggled at times this season. Call him Cindy, call him a cheap shot artist, or a whiner but whatever you call him you can’t deny he’s a damn fine hockey player.

2. Hiller shutting out the Panthers after signing his new contract. Ironically he would have gotten the new contract earlier, and Giguere shipped out earlier, if he had played better at the beginning of the season.

3. Speaking of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, he recorded his own shutout in his Toronto debut against the Devils making 30 saves. I expect Giguere will play well for the Maple Leafs and lead them back to respectability.

4. Edmonton won! They beat the mighty Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 in a game I’m sure fans were turned away at the door. All kidding aside this was a much needed victory for the Oilers. Losing 13 games in a row you probably start to question if you can ever win again.

5. Quiet teams like Los Angeles, Phoenix and Ottawa winning and winning a lot lately. I can’t believe Ottawa is 9-1 in their last 10 games. But I guess with the Capitals winning 11 in a row stuff like that happens.

Things I don’t

1. All these slumping teams Edmonton, Calgary, Detroit, Boston, Toronto, New Jersey, NY Rangers. They all have 3 wins or less in their last 10 games. It’s probably been a long time since that has happened.

2. Dan Sexton being reassigned to the Manitoba Moose, that’s a cool team name though. I’ll write some more about this in the Ducks watch below.

3. Mike Green, Capitals, taking out Michael Frolik, Panthers, with an elbow to the head, just a sick defenseless shot. Green received a three game suspension for the hit. Then the next period Mike Green and Dmitry Kulikov hit knee to knee, perhaps karma’s payback. Never good to hit knee to knee and both men leapt off the ice. You can see both hits below.

Stat Line of the Week

01/30/10 Calgary 6 vs. Edmonton 1

Skater	TOI	G	A	+/-	SOG	PIM
J. Iginla	15:11	2	2	+4	2	5

Captain Iginla brought his A game as he tried to turn around the sinking ship knows as the Flames. He did an awesome job as he netted 2 goals, 2 assists and gave up no goals while he was on the ice. Unfortunately, this came against the Oilers who are more hapless than the Flames right now. Also the Flames were unable to maintain their momentum losing to the Flyers 3-0 the next game.

Did You Know?

That in the 1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs the eventual champion Canadiens swept the Sabres 4-0 in the 2^nd round but won every game by a score of 4-3. The last three games all went to overtime.

Numbers, Numbers

11 – The current winning streak by the Capitals, the longest in franchise history.

8 – Consecutive losses by the Bruins.

.9325% – Ryan Miller’s save percentage just a hair behind Hasek’s all-time single season record of .9366%.

0 – The number of wins by the Oilers in the month of January.

6,896 – Fans in attendance for the Hurricanes vs. Blackhawks due to snow in the Carolinas.

This Week in Hockey History

Special thanks to the Hockey Hall of Fame site for making this section a little easier to do.

January 28, 1992 Brett Hull became just the second player in NHL history to record back to back seasons of 50 goals in 50 games (Wayne Gretzky had done so in 1983 & 1984). He scored #50 in a 3-3 Blues’ tie at Los Angeles.

January 29, 1977 The Blizzard of ’77 left many of the Sabres trapped in Buffalo. Only 14 players made it up to Montreal, but they managed to tie the Canadiens, 3-3.

January 30, 2003 Owen Nolan tied a San Jose team record with a goal in his sixth consecutive game, a 4-3 loss to the visiting Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Nolan scored 8 goals in the six games.

January 31, 1982 Grant Fuhr became the first goaltender in Edmonton Oilers history to win 20 games in one season. The milestone 20th victory of the year was a 7-4 win against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

February 01, 1977 Montreal’s Guy Lafleur began an NHL-record 28 game point scoring streak, with a goal and three assists, in the Canadiens’ 7-3 win over the Barons, at Cleveland. Wayne Gretzky later upped the record to 51 games.

February 02, 1928 Senators’ Alex Connell recorded the second of his NHL-record six consecutive shutouts, with a 1-0 win over the Montreal Maroons, in Ottawa. It was Connell’s 43rd career shutout.

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Washington
2. Ottawa
3. Los Angeles
4. San Jose
5. Phoenix

Bottom 5

30. Edmonton
29. Boston
28. Calgary
27. Toronto
26. NY Rangers

Anaheim Ducks Watch

Well it looks like I’ll keep this section for now.

In order to make room for newly acquired Jason Blake and the returning Teemu Selanne they moved down Dan Sexton and Matt Beleskey. I don’t particularly care for those moves, particularly the Sexton move. I don’t think Blake and his high salary will add much to the Ducks team. Sexton, while not as hot as he was, is a fast and skilled player. Ryan Carter or Troy Bodie would have been better choices to demote.

The Ducks played the Capitals a day after losing to the Thrashers and as predicted they got crushed 5-1. Playing back to back games especially games that far away is ridiculous. I don’t see how any team would have a chance. In Giguere’s send off game, he gave up 5 goals on 49 shots. Not to shabby considering how under siege he was. The lone goal was scored by the newly demoted Dan Sexton. The Ducks have a funny way of thanking people sometimes.

My last game on Fox Sports Prime Ticket was against the Lightning and it was a good one. The Ducks prevailed 2-1 in a tight contest that showcased the James Wisniewski show. Wisniewski scored the only goal for the Ducks in regulation and then he followed it up with his second consecutive shootout winning goal. The Wisniewski pick-up last year was a really great find for the Ducks and Bob Murray. Hiller had some nice saves as did Niittymaki.

Then in a game no one saw because it wasn’t televised anywhere, the Ducks beat the Panthers 3-0. Truly pathetic that no one broadcasted the game. Selanne made his triumphant return and scored, what else, a powerplay goal. He is just 4 goals shy of joining the 600 goal club. If he can find a way to not get injured again, he will get that this season. The Ducks have the always fun Red Wings up next.

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Brandon Prust, Brian Burke, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Colin White, Dan Sexton, Darryl Sutter, Dion Phaneuf, Dmitry Kulikov, Edmonton Oilers, James Wisniewski, Jason Blake, Jay Bouwmeester, Jay Rosehill, Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Jerome Iginla, Johan Hedberg, Jonas Hiller, Keith Aulie, Matt Beleskey, Michael Frolik, Mike Green, Olli Jokinen, Ottawa Senators, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Ryan Miller, Sidney Crosby, Teemu Selanne, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals
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Between the Pipes – NHL Recap Week 12

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.

canucks

Vancouver Canucks 3^rd 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.

ducks

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.

islanders

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.

Nords

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?

pens

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.

rangers

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.

You can check them all out at nhluniforms.com.

Does anyone else have a jersey they hate that I missed?

Goalie Spotlight

None this week, I didn’t have time.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Wade Belak vs. Brian McGrattan

The 6^th fight between these two, I like McGrattan’s little jabs while holding Belak’s jersey. McGratten plays to the crowd afterwards.

Brad May vs. Krys Barch

Lots of punches in this one except most of them didn’t connect, also the 6^th bout between these too.

Goat of the Week

Nate Thompson – New York Islanders

Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers

Ivan Vishnevskiy – Dallas Stars

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 2^nd 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. 20^th game against St. Louis. Daniel had his 8 game point streak snapped against Washington on Dec. 18^th. 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 3^rd 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.

Numbers, Numbers Martin Brodeur edition

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

Anaheim Ducks Watch

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 1^st 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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.

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Bobby Ryan, Brad May, Brian McGrattan, Chris Osgood, Columbus Blue Jackets, Daniel Sedin, Evgeni Nabokov, George Hainsworth, Henrik Lundqvist, Henrik Sedin, Ivan Vishnevskiy, Krys Barch, Martin Brodeur, Mike Richards, Nate Thompson, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Phil Kessel, Robert Luongo, Ryan Getzlaf, Sidney Crosby, Steve Mason, Terry Sawchuk, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Wade Belak
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THE HAT TRICK: WEEK 11

Monday, December 14th, 2009 Written by: Eric Sutter

As the weather turns colder and we enter the holiday season; Chanukah candles are being lit, Christmas trees are being put up, and hockey pucks are getting roasted on an open fire. This being an Olympic year, the next couple of weeks will be the busiest time for teams trying to stuff as many games in before the winter break.

December will make or break which way teams are headed in the parity filled NHL, so let’s look at three specific teams in this week’s Hat Trick.

Buffalo Sabres

The surprising leaders of the Northeast Division have been riding one of the hottest goalies this season. In December they have 15 games, and the good news is only two of them are on back-to-back nights. They recently finished up a five-game home stand with a 3-2 record and had impressive back-to-back wins against the Blackhawks and Rangers.

Coming down the stretch of this month are two contest at home against the Penguins, one on the road with the Capitals and four games against division rivals Ottawa and Toronto. With Olympic selections for USA coming up, it will be interesting to see how Ryan Miller does with the heavy workload this month and how this team that depends on often-injured stars hold up with the treacherous schedule.

St. Louis Blues

A team that got hot at the end of last season to make the playoffs have once again started slowly. This month full of 15 games, including two tough back-to-back nights (home Flames, road Blackhawks and road Canucks, road Oilers) will make or break the season for the up and coming Blues.

Good news for them is that eight of the games will be played away from the Scottrade Center, since they have a 8-2-3 road record this season. Being one of the younger teams in the league (27.4 average age), they should be able to handle the long December stretch. If they falter, however, they do have two veterans on their last year of contracts (Kariya and Tkachuk) that could get some interest.

Philadelphia Flyers

This one, an obvious pick for the preseason Stanley Cup favorite, is a Hurricane winning streak away from being the worst team in the East and their own winning streak away from being back in the playoff picture. They also have 15 games in December, the problem is they have already started 1-5 in the month.

The schedule does not look favorable either with a home and home series with the Penguins, and two games against division rival Rangers, but they do get a week of the Southeast Division (Panthers, Lightning and Hurricanes Oh MY!) They have already fired their coach and lost their starting goalie to injury for the entire month, but should be getting reinforcements soon with the returns of Simon Gagne, Darrol Powe, and Blair Betts from injuries. Needless to say if they continue the month they way they started you could see a major shakeup of players in Philadelphia.

Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Keith Tkachuk, New York Rangers, Olympics, Ottawa Senators, Paul Kariya, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Miller, St Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals
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AT THE QUARTER POLE, WHAT DID WE KNOW?

Friday, November 20th, 2009 Written by: Jeremy

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, 2^nd 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. 82757860BK015_BOSTON_BRUINS 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. steven-stamkos(lou)

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. Islanders Hurricanes Hockey

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.

Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar, Calgary Flames, Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Eric Staal, Joel Quenneville, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, Los Angeles Kings, Marian Hossa, New York Islanders, Steven Stamkos, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vincent Lecavalier
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Between the Pipes – NHL Recap Week 5

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 Written by: Alex Mueller

Injuries – When you think of injuries Football is probably the sport with the most serious injuries. You tend to notice when a player gets injured, especially a QB, and most of the injuries are season-enders. It is a physical game. Baseball generally doesn’t have too many injuries; it is more of a finesse game. Basketball not as many either but when they do happen they are more impactful because there are less guys playing on a team then in any other sport. Hockey is the second most physical sport, after football, yet I don’t normally think of to many injuries. Those that do happen generally last for only a few games. One of the more serious injuries, I remember, from last year was when Teemu Selanne was lacerated with his own skate and was out about 6 weeks.

This year though hockey players seem to be dropping like flies. Over 100 players are currently injured in some capacity. There are some big names too. Ilya Kovalchuk, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Eric Staal, Marc Savard, Marian Hossa (though he was injured before the season started), Mike Modano, Johan Franzen, Sheldon Souray, David Booth, Andrei Markov, Jason Arnott, Patrik Elias, Evgeni Malkin, Roberto Luongo, Daniel Sedin. A more complete list by team can be found here. As you can see these are some big names that are valuable to their team. The biggest to go down, besides Malkin, is Alex Ovechkin. Of course no one will say how severe it is but you have to hope it isn’t for long. (It seems like he might be ready to go this weekend.) Not only will about a million people’s fantasy teams be screwed but because he is one of the NHL’s most talented and marketable stars, it’s a blow to the league as well. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery to all those injured players.

Goalie Spotlight

Ryan Miller – Buffalo Sabres

Ryan Miller is an American born hockey player from East Lansing, Michigan. Miller was drafted in the 5th Round, 138th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 NHL Draft. Collegically he played for the Michigan State Spartans where he set an NCAA records for career shutouts with 26. He was the winner of the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top NCAA hockey player, in 2001 when he led the country in wins, winning percentage, save percentage (an NCAA record .950 mark), goals-against average and shutouts (an NCAA record 10).

After a stellar college career, Miller split time between AHL affiliate Rochester Americans and the Sabres from 2002 until 2006. It wasn’t until the 06-07 season that Miller was called up permanently to be the Sabres starting goalie. Miller started playing for the Sabres 2 seasons after Dominik Hasek, arguably one of the top Sabres goalies of all time, had left them. Hasek also retired for the first time in Miller’s first season of being called up.

Since be named the number starter in 2006 Miller has put up decent numbers. Last year he finally blossomed into one of the NHL’s top goalies. He posted his career best numbers in GAA, SV%, and shutouts. The Sabres narrowly missed the playoffs last year, though that can be contributed to Miller being injured for a stretch. This year he is off to another fast start in the top 3 for GAA and SV% and the Sabres playoff chances once again rest on his shoulders.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Slim pickings in good fights this week, so these fights are nominated for other reasons.

Marek Zidlicky vs. Sidney Crosby

Sidney got in a fight, I’m sure you all wanted to see it. It’s funny how desperate the refs were in trying to stop the fight before it started and then after it did.

James Wisniewski vs. Keith Yandle

Wisniewski cleans Doan’s clock with a vicious and dirty hit, Yandle comes over to avenge Doan. The hit is better then the fight. Wisniewski was suspended two games for the hit.

James Wisniewski vs. Shane Doan

Here is Doan avenging himself. Fight was pretty even and nothing special. At least Doan did a better job avenging himself then Yandle did.

Goat or Trick Shot of the Week

I couldn’t find anything worth mentioning this week.

Things I like

1. Steve Stamkos is really coming into his own in his 2^nd year. High expectations for last years number 1 overall pick; Stamkos is currently leading his team in points and leading all forwards on the team in Plus Minus. He also has a six game goal scoring streak going, tops in the NHL this season.

2. I honestly feel that this will be the most wide open NHL race in quite some time. Now it wouldn’t surprise me if the Penguins end up in the Finals again, and it’s probably likely, but who else makes the playoffs and how far they go should be quite interesting. I know we are in for some surprises and I’m pretty sure that the most of the bottom spots 6-8 will come down to the last week of the season.

3. Colorado is a perfect 4-0 at home, on the road not so much but they are a respectable 6-3-2. They have however lost 2 games in a row, so it will be interesting how they play in their next game. Now 3 losses in row isn’t the end of the world but for a team that wasn’t expected to do anything, you hate to see them start on a downward spiral.

Things I don’t

1. Toronto may have a win, but they still don’t have a win at home. At least Phil Kessel is back, maybe that will help. The epic Toronto vs. Carolina game is this Friday Nov. 6^th, be there.

2. Steve Mason is not following up his rookie of the year award with stellar play. He is currently in the bottom 5 of GAA and SV% yikes. Columbus still has a somewhat decent record, despite this. They are however the only team above .500 that has allowed more goals then they have scored.

3. The sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to the NHL. Not enough room to get into it here, but I don’t think this was the right move.

This Week in Hockey History

October 29, 1949 Harry Lumley became the first goaltender to record 20 shutouts as a member of the Red Wings as Detroit won 1-0 win over the Canadiens at Montreal. The winning goal was scored by rookie winger Steve Black.

October 29, 2003 Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux became the 6th player in NHL history to reach 1,700 career points (and the second-fastest, after Gretzky) with an assist in a 4-4 tie against the visiting New York Islanders.

October 30, 1943 Montreal’s Bill Durnan signed his first NHL contract and made his NHL debut in a 2-2 tie against the Bruins, in the Habs’ season opener in Montreal. It was the start of an NHL-record 14 game unbeaten streak (12-0-2) for the rookie goalie.

October 30, 1971 Fred Glover became the 1st man in NHL history to coach 2 NHL teams in one season, when he was named coach of the L.A. Kings just 12 days after being fired by the Oakland Seals. He lost in his Kings’ debut, 5-1 to the visiting Chicago Black Hawks.

October 30, 1943 Toronto Maple Leafs Gus Bodnar set an NHL record for fastest goal by a rookie in his first game, by scoring just 15 seconds into his NHL debut. He later added another goal and an assist as the Leafs beat the Rangers 5-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

October 30, 1998 Pittsburgh Penguins set an NHL record by scoring their 9th and 10th consecutive power play goals in a 2-2 tie against Vancouver. They broke the record of 8 straight power play goals scored by Buffalo in 1991-92.

November 01, 1945 Gordie Howe (at age 16) signed his first professional hockey contract, with the Omaha Knights of the United States Hockey League.

November 01, 1924 Boston Bruins became the first U.S. team to join the NHL when they (and the Montreal Maroons) officially received their NHL franchises.

November 03, 1987 Marcel Dionne became just the second player in NHL history to score 1,700 career NHL points, when he scored a goal for the New York Rangers in a 5-3 loss at Calgary.

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Pittsburgh
2. Colorado
3. San Jose
4. Washington
5. Buffalo

Bottom 5

30. Toronto
29. Carolina
28. Florida
27. St. Louis
26. Minnesota

Ducks Watch

The Ducks snapped their 4 game losing streak with a sound thumping of the Canucks 7-2. After falling behind 0-2 the Ducks reeled off 7 unanswered goals. Proving that they are better then they have played and that they still have a potent offense. Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan each contributed 2 goals. The Ducks followed up with a tough shutout loss to the Coyotes in Phoenix. Even though they lost they were still able to pick up a point. My Stanley Cup Finals prediction was Pittsburgh vs. Anaheim and if that happens, there’s a chance, it won’t disappoint judging by their regular season encounter Tuesday. A very entertaining match up that was well played by both sides. Anaheim didn’t get any points but the still walked out a winner in my book, only losing by a goal. Corey Perry is on a tear recently and had another 2 goals. Overall their level of play has improved tremendously.

Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche, Corey Perry, Dominik Hasek, James Wisniewski, Keith Yandle, Marek Zidlicky, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Miller, Shane Doan, Sidney Crosby, Steve Mason, Steve Stamkos, Teemu Selanne, Toronto Maple Leafs
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FANTASY FOCUS

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 Written by: Eric Sutter

It is hard transition from coming right out of college and going right to the work force, go from partying all night with your friends to being responsible for the excel spreadsheet or coffee to be on your bosses desk. This week I will be looking at how some NHL Rookies have transition into the league and their fantasy value

Michael Del Zotto, Rangers D:

The 20th overall selection in the 2008 NHL entry draft surprisingly made the Rangers out of camp and has been a pleasant surprise for Fantasy owners this season. All the 19-year-old has done is leading the Rangers defense in goals (4), assist (8), points (12), power play assists (5) and power play goals (3). Although the Rangers have been playing him the least amount of minutes for defensemen (17:02 minutes per game), he has big fantasy value playing big minutes on the power play (3:41 minutes per game). Keep this young kid in your lineup for the entire season. Expect some down times, especially whenever Gaborik gets hurt. Overall, this kid has staying power with eight power play points in his first 15 games as a pro.

James van Riemsdyk, Flyers W:

The kid drafted right behind superstar Patrick Kane has finally made it to the big show after two seasons in New Hampshire. The 6-3 forward with great vision has 10 points in his first nine career games. Now with injuries to Simon Gagne and Daniel Briere, JVR is seeing some major ice time including an increase in power play time. The 20-year-old, Van Rammer also is showing he can play both ends of the ice increasing his fantasy value being a +4. Also, Even though he is passing more, shown with his 8 assists, he still adds fantasy value with 26 shots on goal. Keep an eye on the injuries to Briere and Gagne, and if they are long term issues this kid is worth a spot on your team.

Jaime Benn, Stars W:

Drafted a mere 129th overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft, Benn was a WHL all-star last season with 82 points in 56 games last season for the Kelowna Rockets. The 20-year-old has broken out early for the Stars scoring 10 points in his first 14 games. Even better for the rookie he is playing most of his ice time on the top line with Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro and also playing on the top power play line. The 6-2 forward also is helping his fantasy value by chipping in with six PIM. It will be interesting to see if Benn will stay on the top line with Morrow and Ribeiro, but if that continues pick up this former junior star as he blossoms for the Stars.

Pickup of the Week: Mikhail Grabovski, Maple Leafs C:

Like I have said before in my columns, do not sleep on the bad teams for fantasy players, and Grabovski has continually shown he has fantasy value. The Russian has six points in his last four games, including four of those points on the power play and even chipped in with one shorthanded point in that run. Last season, he scored 20 goals and 48 points while having an amazing 92 PIM. He is playing top-line minutes and on the top power play for the Maple Leafs. They cannot play any worse than the first 12 games. Grabovski is not owned in any leagues, so he might prove to be great waiver wire find.

Tags: Dallas Stars, Fantasy, Fantasy Hockey, Jaime Benn, James van Riemsdyk, Michael Del Zotto, Mikhail Grabovski, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pickup of the Week, Toronto Maple Leafs, Waiver Wire
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The Hat Trick

Sunday, October 25th, 2009 Written by: Eric Sutter

Head shots have been in the hockey news as much as that hoax of a flying balloon, but unlike Falcon’s attempt to trick America, the NHL is not getting tricked on what is and is not a suspension.

Let me start of my rant by saying that I do not condone intentionally hurting a person, but this sport is a violent one built on aggression and playing physical. Scott Stevens made a living by hitting players coming across the middle with their head down, and this is why I agree that the NHL got it right this week.

With their decision to suspend Toumo Ruutu for his late, from-behind hit on Darcy Tucker and for not suspending Mike Richards for his open ice hit on David Booth. It is always a scary moment in sports to see the stretcher be brought onto the ice and have a player down and motionless, but folks this is their profession.

With that I move to the Pucking Awesome Hat Trick, or the top three things I am watching for this week.

Kings Ransom:

Can anyone name the leading scorer in the league? Nope not that crazy Russian in our nation’s Capital, but the slick moving Slovenian playing in sunny Los Angeles, Anze Kopitar. This former first-round pick has been lighting up the scoreboard for the upstart Kings.

The first ever Slovenian to play in the NHL made an immediate impact scoring two goals in his first NHL game and now is showing critics he is worth the big time seven-year, $47.6-million contract extension he signed before last season.

With two games this week against the Sharks and Canucks I will be watching this talented player face two of the league’s premier goalies.

Maple Leafs vs. The League:

The good news is after a week with one game, the Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action with four chances to win their first game of the season. Maybe even better news is that all these games are away from the rabid fans who are clamoring for that sweet taste of victory.

So I am alerting all the Ducks, Starts, Sabres and Canadiens fans, because I will be watching for the Leafs to finally win one of these games.

Game of The Week:

Red Wings vs. Canucks—Two power house teams struggling to find an identity early square off Tuesday. I still think both of these teams will be near the top of the standings when all is said and done, but injuries are starting to take a toll on both of these talented squads.

They are both still shooting at a blistering pace with the Canucks ranked second with 34.4 shots per game and the Red Wings sixth with 32.3 shots per game, but both teams are giving up a good amount of goals five on five.

In this game both teams will be looking to make a statement to the league that they are not panicking and everything will be fine for this pre-season favorite. The loser of this game will still be searching for answers on how to solve the problem of playing without important players.

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Anze Kopitar, Buffalo Sabres, Carolinas Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Darcy Tucker, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Scott Stevens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toumo Ruutu, Vancouver Canucks
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FANTASY MONDAY

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).

Tags: Jason Blake, Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson, New York Islanders, Ryane Clowe, San Jose Sharks, St Louis Blues, T.J. Oshie, Toronto Maple Leafs
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THE HAT TRICK

Monday, October 19th, 2009 Written by: Eric Sutter

I know it is very early but the standings already have some surprises near the top.

The goal-starved Rangers lead the league in goals and the home-starved Coyotes lead the league in goals against.

At the same time, there’s no surprise atop the league leaders in goals and points as Alex Ovechkin continues his onslaught on goalies with nine goals and 16 points. That gives him 228 goals in 332 games played in his career.

Now let’s delve into the weekly Hat Trick, or the top three things I am watching for this week.

Brodeur Chasing Sawchuk: After a 26-shot blanking of the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, Martin Brodeur recorded his 102^nd career regular season shutout.

This drew the goalie—who already holds 17 different goalie records—one shutout away from tying the great Terry Sawchuk. Brodeur has two games on the road this week against the Rangers and Penguins. He has 73 career wins and 11 career shutouts combined versus these division rivals.

I will be watching these important Atlantic Division games not only for the potential record but also to see how the great Brodeur does against these high-powered offenses.

Who Will Win First?: It has become an interesting but sad race between the Islanders and Maple Leafs to see who will be the first to record their first win this season.

The Maple Leafs embark on a difficult five-game road trip as Metallica and Jay-Z occupy the Air Canada Center. They’ll play games against the Canucks, Ducks, Stars, Sabres, and Canadiens in that stretch. Do you see a win in there?

The guys on Long Island have come close to getting a “W” with three OT losses this season.

They have a busy week this week with games against the Hurricanes and Canadiens on consecutive nights. With young scorers Matt Moulson (4 goals, 3 assists), Kyle Okposo (1 goal, 5 assists), and John Tavares (3 goals, 4 assists) flying around the rink, I see the Islanders getting off the snide first.

Game of the Week —Bruins vs Flyers: A preview of the Winter Classic to be held in Fenway Park this year also pits two preseason Eastern Conference heavyweights against each other.

The Flyers came out of the gate strong (3-0-0) only to stumble in their next three games (0-2-1), including a bad loss to the Panthers.

The Bruins have started the season against mostly Western Conference teams with only a 3-0 win over the Stars to show in the positive column (1-3).

This matchup will allow one team to re-establish their place back as a team to beat while also setting a tone for the Winter Classic that will be showcased in Fenway Park on New Years Day.

Tags: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Fenway Park, John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Martin Brodeur, Matt Moulson, Montreal Canadiens, New Years Day, New York, Philadelphia Flyers, Terry Sawchuk, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Winter Classic
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Between the Pipes

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 Written by: Alex Mueller

Some key things to look for during the season:

Trap Games – The Penguins know what this is all to well. After beating the Rangers and Islanders in tough division match-ups the Penguins were probably looking forward to their next division match-up against one of the Eastern Conference favorites this year the Flyers, who are also their bitter rival. Unfortunately Phoenix was in between those games, and the Penguins probably didn’t think much of the lowly Coyotes, who played their hearts out. The Penguins overall played a sloppy game and gave the Coyotes nine power plays, which they converted on two of, which was the difference in the game. Overlooking teams will be a problem this year for a few teams especially the defending champs.

Young Teams – There are a lot of young teams on the rise this year including the Islanders, Coyotes, Avalanche and Kings. The Los Angeles Kings I figured were a year away from making the playoffs but the young guns have really blossomed (see one of the things I like below) and they seem to be a lock for the playoffs this year. Their defense and goaltending are still question marks though.

Last Minute Scoring – There has been an abundance of game tying or game winning goals in the last minute of regulation. I, for one, am not complaining. The game tying goals lead to the always exciting overtime and penalty shootout.

Goalie Spotlight

Last week I did a feature on Colorado Avalanche net minder Craig Anderson. This week Jean-Sebastien Giguere heads into the spotlight.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere – Anaheim Ducks

Normally I won’t be spotlighting a “backup“goalie but Giguere is not your typical backup. He has led the Ducks to a Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and was one of only five players to win the Conn Smythe trophy, for playoff MVP, on the losing team in 2003 when the Ducks lost to the New Jersey Devils in the finals. He is currently splitting time backstopping the Ducks with Jonas Hiller.

You may wonder how did a goalie with an impressive resume end up splitting time? Statistically the 08-09 campaign was one of his worst. You would have to go back 10 years to when he was a backup for the Calgary Flames and just breaking into the league to find a worse year. Despite this, he was named the Western Conference starting goalie for the All-Star game, further proof that fan voting doesn’t generally reward those that truly deserve to start. In December of 2008 Giguere’s dad, Claude, passed away which further added to his difficult year, a tough thing for anyone to have to go through. This enabled Hiller to get more playing time which he fully took advantage of, becoming one of the hottest goalies last year.

This is an important year for Ducks management to decide what goalie they want to go with in the future. Giguere has one year left on his contract after this season and it’s a huge cap hit of 7 million. Hiller will become an unrestricted free agent after this year, and will command a big raise. While I’m sure management would want to keep both financially it is not feasible. Both goalies have a lot to prove this year, and will be sure to make every game they start count.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Derek Dorsett vs Frazer McLaren

Dorsett spent half the fight on McLaren’s back, never really seen that before. After McLaren finally got him off he landed some pretty good punches.

Zack Stortini vs Triston Grant

A pretty well balanced fight, but the edge goes to Stortini, and very loooong, as far as hockey fight length standards go.

Colton Orr vs. Donald Brashear

What weekly fight recap would be complete without a Brashear fight? Brashear won overall but Orr had a nice punch that knocked off Brashear’s helmet.

Trick Goal of the Week

Corey Perry – Perry on a shorthanded breakaway tried to score but was stopped by Tim Thomas. The rebound off Perry’s head however was not, which caught Perry and Thomas both by surprise. Dennis Wideman’s look of disbelief pretty much summed up the 6-1 loss for the Bruins, it was just that kind of night.

Goat of the Week

Braydon Coburn – Coburn, I guess, attempted to clear the puck, which bounced off unsuspecting Ray Emery and into the net. The goal was credited to defenseman Alex Goligoski. “It certainly was the easiest goal of my career considering that I didn’t even touch it,” Goligoski said. It ended up being a costly goal for the Flyers in a tight game.

Things I like

1. Anze Kopitar is really developing into an elite player in his 4^th season in the NHL for the Los Angeles Kings. Generally a just below a point a game scorer, look for him to improve that ratio and be in the mix for the scoring title all season long.

2. Ilya Kovalchuk is one of the few bright spots on the Atlanta Thrashers. IIya led the Thrashers in points the past two seasons and will undoubtedly do it again.

3. Teemu Selanne had 4 goals in back to back games, including the only goal in a shootout vs. the Flyers. At age 39 the “Finnish Flash”, who had 76 goals 17 years ago as a rookie, has not lost his knack for scoring.

Things I don’t

1. The Edmonton Oilers luck or lack thereof. Those who read this column last week know that Nikolai Khabibulin was named Goat of the Week for his misplaying of the puck in the final minute of a game against Calgary, which cost them that game. Thursday in the final 2 seconds of a rematch against Calgary the Flames were able to redirect a puck in for the tying goal. The Flames then won in the shootout. At least the Oilers got a point in this game, but losing two games at home to your division rivals, in that fashion, cannot be easy to stomach.

2. Washington Capitals were considered to be an elite team this year and in many ways they are. However after winning the first two games they have now lost four in a row all by 1 goal, though two of those losses were in the shootout or overtime. Elite teams find a way to win some of those games. So far the Capitals have shown that they are not in that class yet.

3. Toronto is the only winless team left besides the Islanders. However the Islanders have 2 more overtime loses so they have 2 more points. Lowly Toronto has just 1 point and did I mention this is Toronto, Canada home of the Hockey Hall of Fame? Just, disgraceful.

4. Calgary for giving up a 5 goal lead to the Chicago Blackhawks. They at least salvaged a point losing in overtime, but that’s a huge flop. At least the Blackhawks started to chip away in the 1^st and didn’t score all their goals in the 3^rd.

Rankings

Top 5

1. Pittsburgh
2. New York Rangers
3. Los Angeles
4. Philadelphia
5. Calagry

Bottom 5

30. Toronto
29. New York Islanders
28. Florida
27. Minnesota
26. Carolina

Ducks Watch (My team)

After two embarrassing games the Ducks demolished the Bruins on the road, which is a good start to a tough East Coast road trip for them. The Ducks received a good balanced contribution from everyone including Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne. After committing nine penalties and giving up two power play goals to the Flyers things looked bleak for the Ducks. However Selanne who was already hot from last game became red hot and scored two goals in the end of the third period sending the game into overtime where he eventually won it in the shootout. The Ducks then dropped a tough game to the Rangers where you could tell they were fatigued most of the game, from playing back to back games. The loss was even more disappointing considering that Henrik Lundqvist was not playing for the Rangers.

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Anze Kopitar, Braydon Coburn, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Colton Orr, Corey Perry, Derek Dorsett, Donald Brashear, Edmonton Oilers, Frazer McLaren, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Jonas Hiller, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Teemu Selanne, Toronto Maple Leafs, Triston Grant, Washington Capitals, Zack Stortini
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Northeast Division Preview

Sunday, August 30th, 2009 Written by: A.J.

Continuing the whirlwind tour, we head East for our next preview. The Boston Bruins are the class of the division, but it’s anybody guess after that. Ottawa and Toronto are in rebuilding programs, Montreal finished with its renovation, and Buffalo is standing pat as usual. All four of these teams could potentially make the playoffs, but all four could miss them for various reasons. Feel free to scroll down as I explain my pics for how the Northeast division will play out for 2009-10.

1. BOSTON BRUINS

Rear View Mirror: Boston capped off one of the most successful regular season campaigns in club history, registering their highest point output in over 25 years. Unfortunately, a heartbreaking seven game defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes sent the B’s to the golf course a bit too early last year. If you check in several parts of Boston, Scott Walker is considered a curse word much like Aaron Boone back in 2003. Regardless, this team saw offensive breakout seasons from David Krejci (82GP, 22G-51A-73PTS, +37) and Phil Kessell (70GP, 36G-24A-60PTS, +23). All-world play from Norris-trophy winning defenseman Zdeno Chara (80GP, 19G-31A-50PTS, 95PIM) and Vezina-trophy winning goaltender Tim Thomas (54GP, 36-11-7, .933 SV%, 2.10 GAA) led towards the impressive 53-19-10 record last season.

Offseason Ins: Derek Morris (PHX/NYR: 75GP, 5G-15A-20PTS, 40PIM), Steve Begin (MTL: 482 PIM in 409 career games), Dany Sabourin (PIT: 2.85 GAA in 19GP ’08-‘09)

Offseason Outs: Steve Montador (to BUF), Shane Hnidy (to MIN), Stephane Yelle (to CAR)

What Makes Them Tick: From top to bottom, this team is the most complete in the Eastern Conference. Thomas and Chara’s numbers and accolades back that up, but also consider that this team has balanced scoring depth. Eight players scored at least 20 goals (only Kessell cracked the 30 plateau), and six players contributed at least 30 assists. Throw in a full season of Mark Recchi (80GP, 23G-38A-61PTS between TB & BOS) and a healthy Patrice Bergeron (303 Career Games, 228 PTS) and Marco Sturm (156 PTS in 226 Career Games w/ BOS) will only add to the offensive depth. On the blueline, Chara returns with fellow 50 pt. defenseman Dennis Wideman (79 GP, 13G-37A) and newly acquired Derek Morris still gives the B’s the size and grit that can destroy opposing forwards. Factor in the coaching style of Claude Julien, fresh off of winning the Jack Adams, and the Bruins have all the markings of a Stanley Cup contender.

What Could Make Them Go Boom: The Bruins must avoid the injury bug during the regular season and for any player participating in the Vancouver Olympics. Bergeron has missed parts of the past two seasons with concussion-related issues. Sturm only played 19 games before going down for the season with a left knee injury, but still managed to net 13 points in ‘08. While the forward units stepped up to fill in those holes, the same can’t be said for the defense and goaltender positions. Losing Chara not only would hurt the defensive corps, but the voice on the ice as team Captain. Losing Thomas would definitely hurt the B’s between the crease. Dany Sabourin has started at least 15 games the past two seasons with Pittsburgh, but last started full time in the AHL. Tuukka Rask has had great success in the AHL with Providence, but has limited exposure to the NHL (5 Career Games).

Player to Watch: Blake Wheeler, who entered rookie camp with an added 15 lbs of muscle, continues to show why he was taken 5th overall in 2004. If the Phil Kessell holdout continues into the regular season, look for Wheeler to take some of his minutes on top two lines. Wheeler pocketed 45 points in his first full season in the NHL, and has the size and skill set to increase that number exponentially in the years to come.

Prediction: Look for the Bruins to snatch up a 2nd straight Northeast Division crown and a top-three playoff seeding. There is no excuse for this team to underachieve on the ice for 82 games this season, especially after the moves made by GM Peter Chiarelli to improve the defense. The offensive balance is still there. The goaltending position has no controversies. Ownership and management has brought in the tools to get the job done. The postseason is another issue, but I like their chances to be one of four potential representatives from the East in the Stanley Cup finals next spring.

2. BUFFALO SABRES

Rear View Mirror: Flash back to late January 2009 – Buffalo was 6th in the East until injuries derailed a potential postseason appearance. The first significant injury came on February 11th, when Thomas Vanek (40G-24A-64PTS, 20PPG) suffered a fractured jaw after taking a puck to the face. Ten days later, Ryan Miller (59GP, 31-18-6, .919 SV %, 5 SO) went down with an ankle injury on a controversial hit behind the net from Scott Gomez. In the games without their All-Star netminder, the Sabres went 4-7-2 and sealed their fate as becoming the first team to miss the playoffs 2 straight years after winning the President’s Trophy. Many credited the failure towards GM Darcy Regier for not adding some grit to a roster full of finesse players. Others pointed the blame towards Lindy Ruff’s coaching style during the putrid stretch. The real issues were on the ice, specifically towards players who weren’t living up to their paycheck. Players such as Jochen Hecht and Maxim Afinogenov (combined statline: 18G-29A-47PTS), who made a combined $7.3 million last season. In comparison, Paul Gaustad and Clarke MacArthur made almost one-third the amount of money ($2.25 million), but had the better combined statistics (29G-31A-60PTS).

Offseason Ins: Steve Montador (ANA/BOS: 78GP, 4G-17A-21PTS, 143PIM), Mike Grier (SJ: 345PTS in 914 career games; 2nd stint with BUF), Cody McCormick (COL: 250PIM in 190 career games)

Offseason Outs: Teppo Numminen (retired), Jaroslav Spacek (to MTL), Maxim Afinogenov (UFA), Andrew Peters (UFA)

What Makes Them Tick: Under the Regier/Ruff era, Buffalo’s success has been pinned on a balanced system of players scoring, exceptional goaltending, and special teams. These two haven’t survived 12 seasons as the longest GM/coach tandem for no reason. These men are some of the best at identifying, drafting, and grooming talented hockey players. More amazingly, they have been able to draft and develop that talent when the Sabres were in Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in 2002-03. Here’s a statistic for you – out of the 33 players who suited up in the Blue and Gold last season, the Sabres drafted 22 of them; More than any other team in the league. As for the aforementioned Miller and Vanek, forwards Derek Roy (82GP, 28G-42A-70PTS, 9 GWG) and Lady Byng finalist Jason Pominville (82GP, 20G-46A-66PTS, 18PIM) along with defenseman Henrik Tallinder (88PTS in 386CG, all with BUF) and Chris Butler (43GP, 16:43 TOI/G) are prime examples of how Buffalo’s system works. With youngsters such as Nathan Gerbe, Tim Kennedy, Tyler Myers, and Jhonas Enroth waiting in the wings to play in the NHL, the talent pool keeps replenishing itself season after season.

What Could Make Them Go Boom: Two underlying factors can make the Sabres go boom for the 3rd straight season. First, losing Spacek (4G-18A on PP) to free agency means the Sabres have no true point man on the power play. Captain Craig Rivet (1G-10A on PP) and Andrej Sekera (1G-4A on PP) now are ordained as being the two PP QB’s, but expect Ruff to utilize a forward with a blistering slapshot on the point with these men. Potential candidates include Pominville (6G-18A on PP) and Tim Connolly (5G-13A on PP). The other factor is how the Sabres fared against the teams that finished 11th-15th in the East. Last year, they finished a combined 10-9-5 against the lower third, including 2-2 against Tampa Bay (14th) and the Islanders (15th). But the biggest blemishes were a 1-4-1 mark against 11th ranked Ottawa, and a putrid 0-4 record against 13th ranked Atlanta. The Sabres must not overlook these opponents at all next season.

Player to Watch: Jochen Hecht (370 PTS in 618 career games) is due for a rebound after posting some of the most disappointing numbers of his career last year. He has been known for being one of the better two-way forwards in the league who can contribute offensively with at least 40 points. A consummate professional on and off the ice, Hecht knows he needs to improve those numbers or else he’ll have nightly billing in Lindy Ruff’s doghouse. With the return of Mike Grier to Buffalo (55’s linemate from 2004-06), look for Hecht to return to at least 15 goals and 40 points playing on the third line this season.

Prediction: “Status Quo” is a phrase Sabres fans have stomached over the past several seasons from upper management. If anybody notices how the Sabres operate during the Regier/Ruff era, there is a pattern. Before the lockout saw two seasons of making the Eastern Conference Finals (including a Stanley Cup final), then a few years of either early elimination or early tee times. Since the lockout, two more seasons of making the Eastern Conference Finals, then two seasons of early tee times. Expect the “Status Quo” to continue, but in a positive fashion. Just because Buffalo didn’t add acquire any marquee players doesn’t necessarily mean they are doomed to miss the playoffs again. The team addressed the issue of grittiness to supplement the current skill players, and it should clinch a lower playoff seeding this season.

3. MONTREAL CANADIENS

Rear View Mirror: The Centennial for Les Bleu-Blanc-Rouge was supposed to be a season-long celebration for the oldest team in the NHL. Endless promotions honoring the greatest players in club history. Patrick Roy buried the hatchet with the Habs and returned home to have his #33 raised to the rafters. The All Star Game and NHL Entry Draft were awarded to the franchise as part of the festivities. Even the club on the ice, assembled by GM Bob Gainey, had all the components of capping off the Canadiens’ 100th Anniversary with the Stanley Cup. Instead, the season was more Le Noir-Bleu than anything. Goaltender Carey Price (52GP, 23-16-10, 2.83GAA) hit the dreaded sophomore slump. Players ignored then-head coach Guy Carbonneau until he was fired and replaced by Gainey himself near the playoffs. The most famous of all the craziness was the alleged involvement of brothers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn and Roman Hamerlik with a crime syndicate. All these factors turned a year of celebration into a year of sorrow in which the Canadiens limped into the 8th and final playoff spot, and were promptly swept by their arch-nemesis Bruins.

Offseason Ins: Head Coach Jacques Martin, Mike Cammalleri (CGY: 81GP, 39G-43A-82PTS, -2), Brian Gionta (NJ: 81GP, 20G-40A-60PTS, +12), Scott Gomez (NYR: 77GP, 16G-42A-58PTS, 60PIM), Paul Mara (NYR: 640PIM in 639 career games), Jaroslav Spacek (BUF: 80GP, 8G-37A-45PTS, 38PIM)

Offseason Outs: Christopher Higgins (to NYR), Doug Janik (to NYR), Tom Kostopolous (to CAR), Alexei Kovalev (to OTT), Mike Komisarek (to TOR), Saku Koivu (to ANA), Alex Tanguay (to TB)

What Makes Them Tick: New head coach Jacques Martin has a good history of grooming younger players into becoming fixtures in the NHL. He did it in Ottawa with Daniel Afredsson, Alexei Yashin, and Zdeno Chara. He did it in Florida with Nathan Horton and Jay Bouwmeester. Now, with a young stable of players led by Kyle Chipchura (14PTS in 49 career games), Matt D’Agostini (53GP, 12G-9A-21PTS, 16PIM), and Ben Maxwell (2006 Draft – 2/49), Martin will again have a chance to go for the hat trick. It will take training camp for the team to develop chemistry with all the new acquisitions, but expect Gionta and Gomez to set some of the tone as they did during their playing days in New Jersey. MOn defense, bringing in Spacek will really help out Andrei Markov on the power play. Markov specializes on setting up left side defensemen with the man advantage, and Spacek led Buffalo defensemen in points last season. Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak (34GP, 18-14-1, 2.86GAA, .915 SV%) are expected to share the workload in net, but Price must bounce back this season in order to be the clear-cut #1.

What Could Make Them Go Boom: Montreal is tight on cap space with all the overspending on long-term deals during the first few days of free agency. Not to mention acquiring Scott Gomez’s bloated contract he signed with the Rangers 2 years ago that sees him getting paid $8 million over the next two seasons. While the team has young talent ready to crack the lineup, this will leave little room for the Habs to make trades at or near the deadline in order to acquire depth. If Gainey does make moves, they have to be on a dollar-for-dollar value. Many other teams have this issue now, such as Chicago and Boston. However, both of those clubs are in better positions for Cup runs than Montreal.

Player to Watch: There isn’t one player to single out for the Canadiens at the moment. Eventually, the player to watch will be the individual who will follow the long line of Habs greats who have worn the captain’s “C” on their left pectoral. Players such as Lalonde, Blake, Richard, Beliveau, Gainey, Carbonneau, and most recently, Koivu. My hunch would be defenseman Andrei Markov (78GP, 12G-52A-54PTS, 24:37 TOI/G) to take a step closer to get that “C”. He is one of the most tenured and respected players on the current roster.

Prediction: The 101st edition of Les Bleu-Blanc-Rouge will have its share of growing pains. If they kept a couple players from last year’s team, the Habs could’ve been easily looking at another postseason berth. Now, that’s not the case. It is going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of team jelling just to even be considered as a bubble team, much like last season’s underachieving club. It wouldn’t shock me if they sneak in as the 8th and final playoff team. It wouldn’t shock me if they missed the postseason all together. Nonetheless, it should be in interesting season to watch at the foot of Rue de la Gauchetière in Montreal.

4. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Rear View Mirror: The ice surface at Air Canada Centre has not seen postseason hockey since the NHL emerged from the lockout in 2005. Four straight seasons of sub-par hockey, including an embarrassing 81-point output last year. Hope finally emerged in November when Brian Burke became the 1st American GM in club history to take on the role of rebuilding Toronto. On the ice, head coach Ron Wilson got the most out of what he had, led by Jason Blake (78GP, 25G-38A-63PTS, 40PIM) and Alexei Ponakorovsky (82GP, 23G-38A-61PTS, 54.6 FO%) up front. Twelve players scored double-digit goals this past season, while ten contributed at least 10 assists. However, only one defenseman registered in both categories – Pavel Kubina (14G-26A in 82G). Defensive mainstay Tomas Kaberle (433PTS in 738 career games) battled injury for most of last season, being limited to 57 contests. Vesa Toskala (53GP, 22-17-11, 3.26GAA, .891 SV%) took hold of the starting goaltending spot last year, but isn’t the same player he was in San Jose.

Offseason Ins: Francois Beauchemin (ANA: 90PTS in 246 career games), Mike Komisarek (MTL: 66GP, 2G-9A-11PTS, 121PIM), Colton Orr (NYR: 82GP, 1G-4A-5PTS, 193PIM), Grant Exelby (ATL: 511PIM in 357 career games), Jonas Gustavsson (Sweden)

Offseason Outs: Pavel Kubina (to ATL), Justin Pogge (to ANA), Jeremy Williams (to DET)

What Makes Them Tick: Ron Wilson is a coach that is on the cutting edge of technology. Much like the late Roger Nielson’s usage of analyzing videotape of opposing teams for scouting purposes, Wilson has utilized personal computers and tablet PC’s to analyze his own team and the opposition on the fly during the course of a game. This season, Wilson might have to analyze how may ways his defensemen can pick apart an offensive attack with the signings of Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin. Both of these blueliners are known for their physical style of play, one that Brian Burke loves. Add Jeff Finger (66GP, 6G-17A-23PTS, 136 HITS) and 19-year old Luke Schenn (more on him later) to the mix, and you have the makings of what could be a very physical defensive corps that will set the tone this year. Expect more of the same physicality up front with the addition of Orr and Exelby to ensure Blake, Ponakarovsky, and Matt Stajan (76GP, 15G-40A-55PTS, 54PIM) continue to provide solid offensive numbers.

What Could Make Them Go Boom: If injuries start to mount for Toronto, they won’t have much in the AHL pipeline for depth. Former Leafs GM John Ferguson, Jr. was one to buy his team’s success instead of drafting and developing players. He would trade away draft picks and prospects in order to win now, but it never happened. The league doesn’t work that way anymore. Burke will take the next couple of drafts to start building his farm system to his liking, but in the short term, look for quick free-agent signings to fill in any holes for the Leafs.

Player to Watch: Expect great things from defenseman Luke Schenn (70GP, 2G-12A-14PTS, 71PIM) this season. This kid, dubbed the “Human Eraser” for his physical presence during the 2008 World Juniors, should benefit by having Komisarek and Beauchemin on his blueline for the next few seasons. Don’t expect any sophomore slump from Schenn, unless he decks a 2nd year player so hard the opposition is keeled over on his knees. He should be good for at least another 200+ hits this season and 120+ blocked shots.

Prediction: Burke must have a sign in his office that reads “Bigger is Better”. They are still a year or two away from being mentioned in the playoff hunt. However, they are starting to take the steps in the right direction by acquiring big, bruising players and shedding the passive, finesse ones. A 2010 lottery pick seems to be in the cards for Toronto this season, but fear not Leafs fans. Burke’s rebuilding efforts usually take at least 2 years, as shown for his success with Vancouver, and especially Anaheim. It will take another year in Toronto to acquire the right pieces, but don’t doubt for one second that the product on the ice won’t be entertaining. It should prove to be bone-jarring fun!

5. OTTAWA SENATORS

Rear View Mirror: Three years removed from playing for the Stanley Cup, the Ottawa Senators are now a shell of what they once were. Inconsistent play, constant bickering, injuries, inconsistent goaltending, and the team’s 3rd coaching change in two years lead the Sens to miss the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. Obviously, when you think of offensive scoring on this team, it’s always going to be the top line of Dany Heatley (82GP, 39G-33A-72PTS), Jason Spezza (82GP, 32G-41A-73PTS), and team captain Daniel Afredsson (79GP, 24G-50A-74PTS). The next closest player in terms of points was defenseman Filip Kuba (71GP, 3G-37A-40PTS, 23:16 TOI/G). Ottawa has always been a one-dimensional team in regards to the big three on offense. Despite the depressing beginning of the season, new head coach Cory Clouston showed that the Sens still have signs of life. Coupled with the stellar play of 24-year old netminder Brian Elliott (31GP, 16-8-3, 2.77GAA), this allowed the Sens to finish one game above .500 for the year.

Offseason Ins: Alexei Kovalev (MTL: 78GP, 26G-39A-65PTS, 74PIM)

Offseason Outs: Alex Auld (to DAL), Brendan Bell (to STL)

What Makes Them Tick: Nearing 40 years of age, Cory Clouston may be one of the youngest coaches in the NHL. Don’t let that fool you for one minute that he is inexperienced. He is a two-time WHL coach of the year, and CHL coach of the year in 2005 with the Kootenay Ice. After posting a respectable 19-11-4 record after taking over for Craig Hartsburg mid-season, his first full year behind the bench will bring a new style of hockey in Canada’s capital. Instead of the defensive-first scheme used in previous seasons, Clouston employs an attacking style in order to create turnovers. Don’t look for this team to rely on Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley to carry the load this season. Alexei Kovalev was brought in from Montreal to add more offensive depth to Ottawa. Expect more secondary scoring to come from players like Chris Campoli (13PTS in 25G w/OTT), Brian Lee (53GP, 2G-11A-13PTS, 33PIM) and Nick Foligno (who I will touch on a bit later). Will the 2009 trade deadline acquisition of Pascal Leclare (45-55-10, 2.82GAA in 125 career games) from Columbus really be the answer for Ottawa’s goaltending woes for the past six years? He hasn’t played a game in 5 months since the trade, and he’s battling for the starting job with Elliott.

What Could Make Them Go Boom: The one issue that can make Ottawa go boom already has, and his name is Dany Heatley. After four years and a Stanley Cup finals appearance in Canada’s capital, he wants out because he’s being utilized the wrong way. The trade to Edmonton was on the table, but he utilized his NTC because he wanted to see options from other teams. Various reports suggest Heatley has become a locker room cancer, and how he’s handled himself this off-season seems to back up those allegations. He didn’t even show up for linemate Jason Spezza’s wedding in Ottawa over the summer. What does that tell you about being a good teammate? It will become more interesting to see what happens if he is dealt or not before the opening of training camp. He says he will report if he is not moved, but will he really?

Player to Watch: Nick Foligno has the skills and the pedigree to become a perennial 20 goal scorer. His father, Mike, was known for his offensive numbers and subsequent leaping abilities back in the 1980’s for the Sabres. Although he leaped to pay tribute to his father after scoring his 1st NHL goal, the only way he leaps now is in his goal song – Van Halen’s “Jump”. Foligno scored 17 goals last season, the highest total from somebody not named Dany, Daniel, or Jason. As outlined earlier, Clouston is utilizing an attacking style system this season, so expect plenty of forechecking. This should benefit gritty players like Foligno. If Nick is anything like his father, the grit should translate into his first 20-goal season. Senators fans, get ready to ‘leap’ out of your seats for #71.

Prediction: At the end of the season, Daniel Alfredsson said “I don’t believe we are in a rebuilding mode. I think the whole organization (believes) we’re not that far off.”. Somebody should tell “Alfie” that the Ottawa Senators are in a rebuilding mode for this season. A new coach in his first full season with a new system, an All-Star with a Napoleon Complex (granted, he’s a 6’4” Napoleon), and a goal crease that hasn’t seen a legitimate number 1 since Patrick Lalime are all the signals you need. Ottawa will miss the playoffs again this year, but will still have plenty of firepower to be reckoned with as a spoiler.

Tags: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Northeast Division, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs
Posted in Analysis | 1 Comment »

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