Hockey Passion

Rangers, NHL Have Reached a Settlement

2009-03-26T02:39:00.003-04:00

Picks

2008-04-09T14:56:00.004-04:00

East Combinations

2008-04-05T16:28:00.004-04:00

Tribunal

2008-03-18T00:54:00.002-04:00

Team-by-Team Summaries

2008-02-19T12:41:00.009-05:00

2010 Rosters

2008-02-14T02:43:00.002-05:00

Competitive Balance

2008-02-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

Buyouts

2008-02-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

13 Years

2008-01-14T02:39:00.000-05:00

Tagging

2007-12-09T01:37:00.001-05:00

HHOF Pics

2007-11-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

Forbes Summaries

2007-11-09T11:09:00.001-05:00

Bergeron Hit

2007-10-29T02:54:00.000-04:00

Team Breakdown

2007-10-07T14:56:00.001-04:00

Graphs for hockeybuzz

2007-07-19T01:17:00.001-04:00

Yashin Breakdown

2007-06-10T22:59:00.001-04:00

Toronto and Buffalo Territorial Rights

2007-05-25T01:35:00.000-04:00

Cambridge Map - Future Preds' Home?

2007-05-24T11:02:00.000-04:00

Double OT

2007-03-05T16:51:00.000-05:00

Kaberle Hit

2007-03-03T12:46:00.000-05:00

Check Out "The Daily Show"

2006-12-09T00:12:00.000-05:00

www.hockeybuzz.com

I'll be writing pretty much every day on everything that's going on in the hockey world!

Farewell to Joe Nieuwendyk

2006-12-06T21:49:00.000-05:00

Wendel Clark was drafted 1st overall in 1985. Two hundred and fifty-one picks later, the Flyers took Paul Maurice with the final pick in the draft. But it was the player taken at #27 out of Cornell by the Calgary Flames who would go on to become the best player from the draft year.

Joe Nieuwendyk became a star as soon as he got to the NHL. In his rookie year he won the Calder Trophy, scoring 51 goals and adding 41 assists. In year two he matched his goal total from the previous year and added another ten in the playoffs, as the Flames beat Montreal to win the Cup. During his tenure in Calgary, Nieuwendyk had 274 goals and 616 points in 577 games. Following a sixth straight year without winning a playoff round, the Flames decided to make a move for the future, trading the 29-year old to Dallas for Corey Millen and the Stars' recent first round pick, Jarome Iginla.

While some may think the Flames got the better end of the deal in acquiring Iginla, they would go on to miss the playoffs in all but one of the next 8 seasons and it took seven full years before Iginla took his game to the next level. Of course Nieuwendyk helped to carry the Stars to the finals in back-to-back years, winning the Conn Smythe in 1999 as Dallas won their first Championship in franchise history. In my opinion Dallas made a fantastic deal - the cost of acquiring a future Hall of Famer and winning a Cup was high but absolutely worth it.

In 2001-02 with the Stars struggling, they decided to pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade, sending Nieuwendyk and Langenbrunner to New Jersey for Arnott, McKay and a 1st round pick. Joe's stay in New Jersey was short - just one full season plus the final 14 games in 02 - but it did bring him his third ring on his third team.

After winning the Cup in 2003, Joe became a free agent and decided to come home to Ontario, reuniting with his friend Gary Roberts. The Leafs had a strong team and expectations went through the roof with the addition of Nieuwendyk along with trade deadline deals for two more future Hall of Famers Francis and Leetch. Joe battled through injuries and finished third on the team in scoring with 50 points. As usual it was in the playoffs where he took his game to a new level, scoring 6 goals in 9 games and carrying the Leafs to a first round win over Ottawa. The aging team ran out of steam in the second round, losing to Philadelphia.

Most thought that this would be the final stop in his illustrious career, but Joe would stay just one season in Toronto after failing to come to terms on a new contract the next summer. Negotiations with GM John Ferguson Jr. went down to the wire but in the end Nieuwendyk and Roberts decided to move down South to play for the Panthers. After the lockout a lot of veterans had trouble keeping up in the new NHL. Joe Nieuwendyk was not one of them - at age 39, he had 26 goals and 56 points in 65 games. Unfortunately he struggled with injuries throughout the year (something that plagued him for much of his career) and in the end it was his back that forced him to call it a career today. It's a shame that he couldn't make one last run at the Cup and retire on his own terms but we did have the privilege of watching him for almost 20 years.

Nieuwendyk also represented Canada twice in the Olympics. All Canadian hockey fans will remember him doing whatever it took to bring home the Gold in Salt Lake. He took on a defensive role where he excelled and was outstanding in the faceoff circle. He led by example and did whatever it took to win.

Joe Nieuwendyk was a star on and off the ice. He may have won three Cups, an Olympic Gold, the Conn Smythe and Calder trophies and was a four-time all-star, but I'm sure one of his proudest accomplishments was winning the Kings Clancy Memorial Trophy in 1995, for Humanitarian of the Year. I've never met him but I have the utmost respect for the way he carried himself on the ice and off.

The debates have already started over whether Nieuwendyk is a Hall of Famer. To me there is no doubt that he is. He may not have as many goals as Ciccarelli or as many Cups as Anderson, but if I had to pick a team to play Game Seven for the Cup and could take anyone from the past 20 years, there are few names I would take ahead of Joe Nieuwendyk. He was a consummate pro. A leader. A warrior. A winner.

Congratulations on a fantastic career Joe and I look forward to seeing you continue to impact the game off the ice for years to come.

Thumbnails used from Getty Images

Amazing Goal - Should it Count?

2006-12-06T11:45:00.000-05:00

Bouchard's skate is clearly in the crease and making contact with Khabibulin's pad, but he was also in full control of the puck at the time - tough call...

Monday in Review

2006-12-05T00:46:00.000-05:00

Quite a bit of news today other than the Eagles' big win tonight:

Tonight's Games:
* Bruins win a thriller over Montreal, 6-5. Before the game there was a ceremony to commemorate the 97th anniversary of the Canadiens' franchise - players like Schmidt, Bucyk, Cheevers, Bourque, Lafleur and Beliveau were on hand for the festivities. Outside of the Yankees I don't think there is a pro sports team in North American that has such a rich history
* 10 different players had goals in this one, with Brad Stuart potting a pair. Primeau and Sturm also scored for the Bruins, giving the trio 13 on the season, 6 more than Joe Thornton
* Marc Savard had a three point night, bringing his season total to 31. I wonder how many teams are regretting not making a move for him (Calgary perhaps)?
* Huet got the hook for the first time this year.

* Marty Turco picked up shutout #2 on the year, beating the Sharks 1-0.
* Dallas had just 13 shots on goal (5-4-4) but won anyway
* Modano scored the lone goal of the game before leaving with a "lower body injury". Seems like a lot of those going around.
* The Stars were also missing Morrow, Lindros, Miettinen, Daly and Sydor due to various injuries

* Phoenix came from behind to upset Nashville, 3-2. The Coyotes outplayed the Preds and outshot them 42-21 - 16-3 in the third
* Georges Laraques picked up two more assists - his 6th multipoint game in his last 12 games

* The Oilers shutout Vancouver 4-0 behind 36 stops by Roloson
* The Canucks continue to really have trouble scoring while Luongo struggled as well, allowing 4 on 18. Vancouver has no scoring depth and are relying way too much on the twins and Naslund.

Today's News
* Stillman activated: You have to think that the Canes will look to deal a forward for some help on D. Maybe they'll even look to Vancouver?

* Bob Clarke back with Philly (as Senior VP). Sounds like a very low-stress position that still allows him to stay active with the franchise. Good move for all..

* Canada's World Junior hopefuls announced - 11 returnees from last year's Gold Medal squad. One of the most interesting battles will be in goal where Carey Price and Leland Irving should be pushed by Jonathan Bernier and Steve Mason.

* Viktor Kozlov named first star of the week. 6 goals in 2 road games put him in a class with Red Bereson, Gretzky, Sittler and Mikita. Something about Chad Kilger and Viktor Kozlov stealing the headlines this weekend feels very strange to me.

* NHL salary cap going up - apparently somewhere between $46 and $47.5 mil. Good news for the league and for the upcoming UFAs.

* Balsillie interviewed by team owners. As expected it sounds like it went well. The big date is fast approaching (Dec 20) when the decision is expected on the Slots licence for Downtown Pittsburgh:

''Obviously if they get the (slots) licence there's a contractual commitment to the team,'' said Bettman. ''If there isn't (a licence) then there will be an opportunity, I suppose, for other places to make their interests known. Although he reiterated, as did the executive committee, that we would like this team to stay in Pittsburgh if it's possible." (TSN)

* Schedule changes discussed. Sounds like Bettman is on board, the players are on board and the fans are definitely on board. However, everything I've read has said any changes that are made won't be made for another year, which is too bad (if true)

'I did indicate that the majority of players who I've spoken with would certainly support some increased play outside of their division,'' said Saskin. ''We all recognize there are challenges and competing interests anytime you make adjustments in the schedule, but the benefit of seeing more teams in the regular season is one that is understood and supported by the membership.'' (TSN)

Al Iafrate... Al MacInnis... Chad Kilger?!?

2006-12-03T23:52:00.000-05:00

According to Sportsnet.ca, Chad Kilger set the record today for hardest shot recorded. During the team's skills competition, Kilger had a 106.6 MPH slapshot, which broke the NHL record (105.2 MPH by Al Iafrate) and minor league record (106 MPH by Shawn Heins).

Kilger also won the fastest skater competition, posting a lap time of 14.233.

So let me get this straight: Chad Kilger has the hardest shot - ever. AND Chad Kilger is the fastest skater on the Leafs.

Ummm this can't be the same Chad Kilger that I'm thinking of. The one who was drafted in the first round ahead of Langkow, Doan, McLaren, Dvorak, Iginla, Giguere, McKee, Biron, Sykora, Nabokov, Morozov and Denis and whose year-by-year goal totals are:

7
4
3
15
3
14
8
9
2
1
17

It can't be the same guy who has 3 goals and 2 assists in 36 career playoff games, can it?!

I wonder if Anaheim, Winnipeg/Phoenix, Chicago, Edmonton and Montreal are now regretting giving up on such a talented player.

I also wonder if the radar gun was calibrated properly and how he beat out Gill and Belak to win fastest skater.

The Week Ahead

2006-12-03T23:49:00.000-05:00

Just in case you were planning your week out, I decided to take a quick look at the week ahead:

(4) Monday, December 04, 2006
Boston at Montreal 7:00 PM
San Jose at Dallas 9:00 PM
Nashville at Phoenix 9:30 PM
Edmonton at Vancouver 10:00 PM

(8) Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Ottawa at NY Islanders 7:30 PM
Florida at Pittsburgh 7:30 PM
Buffalo at Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Atlanta at Toronto 7:30 PM
Chicago at Minnesota 8:00 PM
Detroit at St. Louis 8:00 PM
Carolina at Calgary 9:00 PM
Columbus at Colorado 9:00 PM

(5) Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Ottawa at Washington 7:00 PM
Montreal at New Jersey 7:30 PM
Phoenix at Dallas 8:30 PM
Carolina at Edmonton 9:30 PM
Nashville at Anaheim 10:00 PM

(10) Thursday, December 07, 2006
Toronto at Boston 7:00 PM
Pittsburgh at NY Rangers 7:00 PM
St. Louis at Detroit 7:30 PM
Buffalo at Florida 7:30 PM
Montreal at NY Islanders 7:30 PM
Atlanta at Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Calgary at Minnesota 8:00 PM
Phoenix at Chicago 8:30 PM
Nashville at Los Angeles 10:30 PM
Colorado at San Jose 10:30 PM

(4) Friday, December 08, 2006
Anaheim at Washington 7:00 PM
Philadelphia at New Jersey 7:30 PM
Edmonton at Dallas 8:30 PM
Carolina at Vancouver 10:00 PM

(14) Saturday, December 09, 2006
NY Rangers at Ottawa 3:00 PM
Pittsburgh at Atlanta 7:00 PM
New Jersey at Boston 7:00 PM
Toronto at Detroit 7:00 PM
Buffalo at Montreal 7:00 PM
Florida at NY Islanders 7:00 PM
Washington at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Anaheim at Tampa Bay 7:30 PM
Chicago at Minnesota 8:00 PM
Columbus at St. Louis 8:00 PM
Dallas at Phoenix 9:00 PM
Vancouver at Calgary 10:00 PM
Colorado at Los Angeles 10:30 PM
Nashville at San Jose 10:30 PM

(3) Sunday, December 10, 2006
Ottawa at Columbus 6:00 PM
Edmonton at Chicago 7:00 PM
Florida at NY Rangers 7:00 PM

Weekend in Review

2006-12-03T23:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of activity over the weekend. Since I've posted there have been 20 games over the weekend.

* Tonight the Kings pulled off a big upset over the Ducks. Cloutier looked confident in net for the first time in a LONG time as the Kings came up with a split in the home-and-home weekend series.
* Bryzgalov had to leave the game tonight with an undisclosed "lower body" injury.
* In the earlier game, Viktor Kozlov had a four goal night, bringing his season total to 11. Last season Kozlov had all of 12 goals, and he has only cracked the 20-goal mark once in his 12-year career. On Saturday night he had 2 goals and an assist, so it was quite the weekend for Viktor, who may be finally living up to his draft status - 13 years later!
* Also, Shanahan had a hat trick to tie Hossa for the lead league with 20.

From Friday/Saturday:
* Ovechkin will not be suspended for his hit on Briere. Fortunately for all, Briere was not hurt on the play
* The Leafs continue to struggle, blowing a lead in Montreal
* Ryan Miller was pulled and the Sabres gave up 7 to Washington
* The Wings lost on a late goal to San Jose on a bad turnover at the blueline
* Ottawa looks to be back in a big way
* New Jersey won a pair - over Pittsburgh and in the shootout over Philly
* Patrick Elias is heating up, with 5 points in his last two games
* Hasek had another shutout, beating Minnesota on Friday night. Joey McDonald started the San Jose game on Saturday.
* Chicago also won a pair, beating St. Louis and Nashville. On Saturday the Hawks got three goals and an assist from somebody named Jeff Hamilton
* Columbus' Fredrik Norrena shutout the Oilers 4-0. The loss was very costly for the Oilers, who lost Ryan Smyth with a fractured thumb

Chris Cuthford and Glenn Healy called the first ever NHL game from ice level on Friday night. It was interesting to hear them work from between the benches and there were some interesting moments like the short interview of Lindey Ruff during a stoppage of play. I hope TSN continues to try new things and push the boundaries to bring the games closer to their viewers.

Thursday in Review

2006-12-01T01:06:00.000-05:00

So I didn't see Marty Turco in my cab or Sidney Crosby in my shower today but after a couple slow nights it really felt like hockey was back:

69 goals + 1 exciting shootout in 10 games.

50% of teams scored 4+ goals.

The Leafs have scored just twice in three games since the return of Mats Sundin.

Dan Cloutier has now given up 8 goals on 17 shots over his last two starts.

Dany Heatley continued to lead Ottawa with 2 goals and an assist. Not to be outdone, Marian Hossa had the hat trick and also added an assist.

Huet stopped 44 but the Habs still lost 4-2.

It took 14 shooters before Tim Thomas stopped Fedotenko to give Boston the win. Boston has won 8 of their last 10.

Jamie Heward took an skate to the face from Modano and was cut really badly.

Philly won with all their young defencemen in the lineup (and no Rathje)

Phoenix, Colorado and Nashville combined for 19 goals in their wins.

Emery and Lehtonen had shutouts.

Just when it seemed like the power may have been swinging back to the goalies, we get a night like tonight where only 3 teams get 1 or no goals (out of 20) and 5 starters (25%) get the hook.

Mike Smith: 4 goals on 14 shots
Alex Auld: 5 goals on 17 shots
Manny Legace: 5 goals on 17 shots
Dan Cloutier: 3 goals on 5 shots
Dwayne Roloson: 6 goals on 20 shots

Game Winners: Hossa, Ju. Williams, Kessel, Semin, Heatley, Knuble, Radulov, Doan, Arnason, Getzlaf
Goalie of the Night: Kari Lehtonen
Sniper of the Night: (tie) Marian Hossa
Defenceman of the Night: John-Michael Liles
Clutch Play of the Night: Getzlaf on the PP (2nd game winner in a row)

Wednesday in Review

2006-11-30T00:18:00.000-05:00

Three games tonight, all decided by one goal, all in regulation.

11 goals in total.

Philadelphia 4:52, Mike Knuble 8 (Peter Forsberg, Simon Gagne)
Nashville 13:32, Steve Sullivan 7 (J.P. Dumont, Shea Weber)
Nashville 6:18, Alexander Radulov 5 (Dan Hamhuis, Chris Mason)
Philadelphia 13:29, R.J. Umberger 7 (Randy Robitaille, Geoff Sanderson)
Nashville 14:51, Martin Erat 6 (Paul Kariya)

Minnesota 2:54, Mattias Weinhandl 1 (Todd White)
San Jose 6:19, Joe Pavelski 3 (power play) (Matt Carle)
San Jose 7:02, Steve Bernier 8 (Christian Ehrhoff)

Dallas 18:06, Jere Lehtinen 4 (Loui Eriksson, Mike Modano)
Chicago 11:43, Tony Salmelainen 1 (Duncan Keith, Mikael Holmqvist)
Chicago 18:12, Tuomo Ruutu 5 (unassisted)

Nobody had a two point night.

Chris Mason finished in a 27-way tie in the nightly scoring race.

Ten of 11 goals were scored at even-strength.

Team powerplays were a combined 1 for 20.

It's interesting that the last couple of nights the goalies have been stealing the headlines.

On Tuesday there were four shutouts (including Auld), three goalies that gave up just one goal and five teams that gave up two goals out of a total of 10 games. By my count that's 60% teams scoring 2 or less on the night.

On Monday there were 7 total goals scored in two games (plus a shootout goal). Sunday was better with 16 goals in 3 games but Saturday, out of 11 games there 14 teams (64%) who scored 2 goals or less.

Tonight the six goalie combined for a group GAA of 1.83 and a .927 save percentage.

Something to watch for over the next little while - it may be just a anomaly. Or maybe, the dreaded 'trap' is starting to sneak back into the game? It's worth noting that Sharks had the most shots with 31 and that a team had 10+ shots in a period tonight only five times (28%).

Stay tuned...

Game Winners: Erat, Bernier, Ruutu
Goalie of the Night: Nik Khabibulin
Sniper of the Night: (tie) Tony Salmelainen, Mattias Weinhandl
Defenceman of the Night: Dan Hamhuis
Clutch Play of the Night: Ruutu on a breakaway with under 2 minutes left

Many Happy Returns

2006-11-29T09:01:00.000-05:00

Chris Pronger: 1 A, +1, 26:06 TOI - Ducks Win

Martin Gerber: stopped 29 of 30 - Sens Win

Alex Tanguay: 1 G, 1 A, +1 - Flames Win

Anson Carter: 20:26 TOI - Canucks Win

Also last night, two Canadian teams suffered key injuries. McCabe left the game late with an ankle injury that right now doesn't sound too serious (although he will be evaluated today) and Hemsky left with a shoulder injury. According to Dan Tencer at hockeybuzz he left the building in a sling and will also be evaluated today. This one has potential to be severe which would be a tough blow for the Oilers..

Tuesday in Review

2006-11-28T22:45:00.000-05:00

I'll try to get my thoughts from tonight's games online by tomorrow afternoon. Right now I'm not feeling well so I'm going to get some sleep..

Credit to Marty Gerber for coming up big tonight against his former team.

Speaking of goalies, Kolzig stopped 48 of 50 and Huet was flawless in a 1-0 shootout win.

Not to be outdone, Tim Thomas stopped allowed one goal on 46 shots and Toskala was perfect too.

So far Pronger has been upstaged on the night by a talented group of goalies..

More to come...

Coming to Hockeybuzz.com

2006-11-28T01:15:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who have been visiting the site - those who have been coming since the beginning and those who've recently discovered it. It's been really fun writing over the past six weeks and I'm amazed at the amount of people from all over the world who have been reading what I have to say.

When I started this site on a Saturday afternoon in October, I wasn't really thinking about anything other than finding a distraction from some work that I had to do. I wasn't even thinking that anybody would want to read it. As you can surely tell I'm not a professional writer by any means, nor do I have any inside sources. But I do love hockey as much (or more) than anyone else and I can talk about hockey pretty much 24/7.

Just this past weekend I got a call from Eklund at hockeybuzz, asking me to start writing for his site. I thought about it for a while because I really do like being able to focus on my own site, even if it gets a tiny fraction of the readers that his site does. In the end I realized that it's an opportunity too good to pass up. It's a chance to reach a much broader audience and be on a site where there is much more interaction with the readers.

What I was hoping to get from you guys are some thoughts on what you like/don't like on this site so I can decide how/what to post on hockeybuzz. E-mail me at dtolensky@hotmail.com if you have any thoughts.

Thanks again for your support, your time and your passion. I'll let you know when my first post is up on the site!

Danny

Monday in Review

2006-11-28T00:51:00.000-05:00

Just two games tonight, both on Versus/OLN and both very good ones:

Detroit wins 2-1 over Dallas
* The Wings snap their 5 game winless streak by scoring two shorthanded goals in the third period
* Turco and Hasek was another great goaltending match (there have been quite a few recently)
* Lidstrom is amazing. The guy just never makes mistakes. Years from now when Kronwall is a top defenceman a lot of the credit will go to playing with one of the best.
* Hudler has been a disappointment so far. He looks very small out there and not very confident
* Aside from the LA game, Lindros hasn't done too much recently
* I can't explain what is wrong with the Wings' powerplay.. with that talent they should be in the top half of the league. Instead they're at the very bottom with just twelve goals

LA wins 3-2 over New Jersey in a shootout
* Kopitar and Frolov both made sweet moves in the shootout
* Garon seems to be taking over the job from Cloutier, he made some clutch saves
* Yet again the Kings were carried by their four young emerging forwards - Brown crashed the net hard and Cammalleri's goal was a beautiful shot right in the top corner
* Without Brodeur the Kings would have won this one in regulation. They've now won two in a row at home against tough opponents
* Derek Armstrong played probably his best game of the year
* Jersey scored twice on the powerplay - they still need to start generating more offense at 5-on-5

Game Winners: Schneider (SH), Kopitar (SO)
Goalie of the Night: Dominik Hasek
Sniper of the Night: Mike Cammalleri
Defenceman of the Night: Nik Lidstrom
Clutch Play of the Night: Kopitar's shootout goal

Trent Yawney Fired, Denis Savard Takes Over

2006-11-27T13:19:00.000-05:00

If the Hawks ever win the Cup under Savard, I have a pretty good idea who will get to lift it first..

But given that this franchise has been in disarray for so long I don't think they need to worry about that right now. The Hawks have not won a playoff round since 1996 and have only been to the playoffs once in the last 8 years.

Over those eight years, they've gone through far too many head coaches: Craig Hartsburg, Dirk Graham, Lorne Molleken, Bob Pulford, Alpo Suhonen, Al MacAdam/Denis Savard (co-coaches), Brent Sutter and Trent Yawney.

It seems the Hawks have been grooming Savard for this role since his retirement in 1997. Here's hoping for the sake of Hawks' fans that this move will bring some stability behind the bench and will help to get things turned around in the right direction.

On an another note, I have to point out the resemblance to another star who has been in the news recently:

Sunday in Review

2006-11-26T23:44:00.000-05:00

Just three games on the schedule tonight but no shortage of storylines:

* Mike Wall wins for Anaheim in his first NHL start.
* Both Giguere and Bryzgalov were out with "lower body injuries" so Wall got the start with David McKee backing him up
* Selanne potted #501 and 502
* McLennan started just his second game of the year for Calgary and gave up four goals for the second time
* Huselius had a pair but Friesen, McCarty and Lundmark are all still looking for their first
* Pronger was fantastic, as usual, with 2 assists, 28:59 played and was a +1
* Calgary has now lost three of four and still need offensive help
* Anaheim has points in 6 straight and all but two games this season

* Rookie Johan Holmqvist led the Lightning over Ottawa, his 8th win in his last 9 starts
* St. Louis, Richards and Kuba each had a goal and an assist
* Marty is two goals behind Shanahan for the league lead
* What's interesting about Tampa is that they often have their star forwards leading the team in ice time - tonight it was St. Louis with 26:18 and Richards with 24:40.
* Corvo was a -2, on for both Lightning goals that were scored within 36 seconds
* With Volchenkov out, Meszaros led the Sens in ice time
* Despite a three-year deal it doesn't look like Denis is getting his job back any time soon

* Another former Rangers' 7th rounder out of Sweden played very well in net but Lundqvist lost the game in OT on a Chris Drury deflection
* Buffalo is now 11-1 on the road and haven't yet lost two in a row all year
* Combined, these two top-10 powerplay units were 1-15, the only goal by Max Afinogenov
* Straka scored both goals for New York as he continues to take advantage of his spot on Jagr's line
* Miller was great tonight - in his 15 prior starts he's actually given up 4 goals eight times. Of course the Sabres have scored so much that nobody has really noticed.

Game Winners: Teemu Selanne, Brad Richards and Chris Drury
Goalie of the Night: Johan Holmqvist
Sniper of the Night: Teemu Selanne
Defenceman of the Night: Chris Pronger
Clutch Play of the Night: Chris Drury's goal

Saturday in Review

2006-11-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

By now you already know what happened last night. Here's what I liked/didn't like:

Liked:
* Gagne and Nittymaki leading the Flyers to a win
* Ex-Leaf Boyes scoring to put away the Leafs
* Chara dominating in both ends
* Chistov showing small flashes that he may not be a bust afterall
* Columbus scoring goals - 5 of them
* Fedorov with 4 points
* Lehtonen shutting out Florida
* Nabokov shutting out New Jersey
* Thornton's sweet goal on Brodeur
* Frolov, Cammalleri, Brown and Kopitar all contributing offensively
* Wojtek Wolski with a four point night
* Lundvist v Fleury - a great goaltending dual
* Jagr. Enough said there
* Nolan and Perreault both getting goals
* Nashville making a statement vs Detroit
* Chris Mason stepping up in Vokoun's absence - the Preds will need more of that
* Nashville's offense from their D
* Jason Blake's explosiveness
* Rick Dipietro's consistency - can he keep it up?
* Islanders' ceremony for Bob Bourne with Bossy and Trottier in attendance
* Ron Maclean's pre-game interview of Colin Campbell - very tough but fair
* Kelly Hrudey's critique of Jose Theodore during Behind the Mark - very tough but fair
* Tony Granato on After Hours - he's a classy guy and his story is an inspirational one

Disliked:
* Sundin came back but the Leafs' offense sputtered
* Tucker as a fighter instead of a scorer
* The Habs giving up a late shorthanded goal down by one
* Yashin going down with a knee injury - sounds like nothing serious though
* Devils having scoring trouble, even with Gomez back
* Canucks having scoring trouble, with Daniel Sedin out
* Calgary's special teams vs LA
* Phoenix v St. Louis - somebody had to get two points
* Joey McDonald struggling

Friday in Review

2006-11-25T13:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the delay in getting this up. I was writing something for hockeybuzz.com and I should have more exciting news on that front in the coming days. But enough about me - here's what is going on in the league:

It was an eventful day with 11 games on the schedule. We could call it "Revenge Friday" as Hitch was in Philly, Niedermayer was in NJ and Legace was in Motown..

Ken Hitchcock coached his first game for Columbus against a Flyers team that he was coaching about a month ago. Columbus played very well, outshooting Philly 41-22 but lost on a goal by Mike Richards, of all people.

"It felt good to go on the bench. It felt good to coach the game. It felt good to try to help the team win," Hitchcock said. "I'm excited to get back and teach again." (from AP)

Richards hadn't scored in 46 regular season and playoff games so that has to be a huge relief for him

Carolina played well after losing two straight in New York (NYR & NYI). The Canes scored twice in 9 seconds midway through the second to open up a two-goal lead and never looked back.

Tim Thomas was pulled, but according to Dave Lewis it wasn't because of his play:

"I thought he was our best player," Boston coach Dave Lewis said of Thomas. "I didn't want to subject him anymore to their approach. We had 19 players that were off their game and he was the only one that was on." (from AP)

Andrew Ladd scored his second of the year. There are rumours of him being dangled in an attempt to add help on defence.

Niklas Backstrom started and played very well once again, shutting out the Coyotes 4-0. Backstrom has given up just 10 goals in 355 minutes of action this year.

The Ducks beat the Devils 4-2 as Niedermayer returned to New Jersey. Apparently Brodeur had some critical words on Niedermayer in his recently released book, regarding Niedermayer's choice to have surgery instead of playing in the Olympics last year, and his decision to leave New Jersey and sign with the Devils. Surprising that Marty chose to criticize Niedermayer and I'm sure it felt good for him to beat his former team (and possibly former friend).

The Islanders continued to roll, this team beating the Pens in front of a sold-out Nassau Coliseum. Crosby took the pregame skate but missed another one due to his groin injury.

Soonafter scoring in the third to break the shutout, Malkin was crushed by Brendan Witt. Fortunately, he doesn't appear to be hurt although I have a feeling he has learned his lesson to keep his head up.

Dipietro played very well yet again.

Toronto shelled Washington 7-1. The Leafs get Sundin back tonight after scoring 4 goals a game in his absence.

Tucker scored his 16th of the year. He is now tied with Hossa for second in the entire league, 1 goal behind Shanahan.

Ottawa's resurgence continues, led by Heatley, Spezza and Emery. The Sens are now back to .500 and climbing.

Dany Heatley had three goals and an assist and is playing great hockey. He's now just three points behind Hossa, who was way ahead not too long ago. He has been consistently generating offense, putting up points in 15 of the last 18 games

St. Louis upset Detroit in a shootout. The Wings outshot the Blues 43-19 but were stoned by their old friend Manny Legace. That had to be a sweet win for Manny, who wasn't treated great on his way out of Detroit but still took the high road:

"It was nice to be back in front of the fans," Legace said. "I saw some signs in the warmup, it brought some tears to my eyes. They missed me and that touched me. They treated me well here. I love it here. My summer home is here. It was a good homecoming." (from AP)

Johan Franzen missed the game with a concussion and may be out for a while. It's time to seriously look at these hits to the head and figure out how to protect the players. Hopefully it won't take an injury to a star player before that happens.

Sheldon Souray scored with one second left in OT to knock off the Sabres. Both Huet and Miller played extremely well but it was Miller who blinked just before the game went to the shootout. Montreal is a team that I doubt the Sabres would want to see in the playoffs..

Marty St. Louis scored the winner in OT and added an assist to beat Atlanta. At first when he started playing better I thought he brought his value up enough to be dealt. Now I think he is too valuable to be dealt.

Philippe Boucher had a hat trick against his former team as the Stars beat LA 5-3. The Kings can't seem to keep the puck out whether Cloutier or Garon is in net.

On the bright side for LA, their young foursome up front (Frolov, Cammalleri, Brown and Kopitar) combined for 7 points.

Edmonton chased Brian Boucher early and coasted to a 5-1 win over the Hawks. When Havlat went out the Hawks were near the top of the West. By the team he gets back they may be at the bottom.

In Injury News...
Vokoun out 2-6 weeks with a torn ligament in his left thumb.

Lehtinen and Morrow should be back tonight for Dallas

Cheechoo skated and could be back this week for SJ

Brawl Fallout

2006-11-23T23:33:00.000-05:00

Suspensions:
Brashear - 3 games
Sutherby - 1 game
Mellanby - 1 game

Fines:
Hanlon - $30,000
Hartley - $10,000

Here's the video for those who missed it:
Seems like the league got it right pretty much this time...

No Contest in Nashville

2006-11-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

The Preds are up 6-0 after two - Saborin got the start and gave up 5 goals on 10 shots. The Preds have points from 11 skaters and goals from Radulov, Tootoo, Zidlicky, Weber and Hartnell (2). Kariya has 3 assists while rookie defenceman Patrick Coulombe has been on for three even strength goals in under 7 minutes of ice time for Vancouver.

This game really shows the difference between a deep offensive team like Nashville and a team like the Canucks, who have had a ton of difficulty scoring and don't have much skill up front outside of Naslund and the Sedins.

Nashville has scored over a goal a game more than Vancouver thus far this season:

Predators - 70 goals in 20 2/3 games = 3.4 GPG
Canucks - 53 goals in 22 2/3 games = 2.3 GPG

Kronwall gets $15 mil

2006-11-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

From TSN..

...will make $1.5 million in 07-08, $3 million in 08-09, $3.25 million in 09-10, $3.5 million in 2010-2011, and $3.75 million in 2011-2012, for a salary cap average of $3 million and a free agency value of closer to $3.5 million.

Kronwall is 26 and has all of 63 games of NHL experience. This year he has 3 assists in 16 games and is 3rd on the team in ice time per game at just over 20 min.

PS - Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US.

Wednesday in Review

2006-11-23T00:30:00.000-05:00

Quite a bit of news to go along with 14 games tonight so I'll give a quick rundown of all the headlines along with some thoughts...

Hitchcock hired by Columbus. Great move - his resume speaks for itself and his attention to detail with help greatly. The Jackets do have talent but it will be a challenge to get the best out of them. If anyone can do it I'd say that it would be Hitch. That said, don't expect any miracles this year. Columbus is in tough in the West and the coach can only do so much. It is still up to MacLean to bring in enough talent to compete for a playoff spot.

Ferguson gets another year. Or does he? It's funny that nobody knew about this option year until recently and soon after it was discovered by the media, the Leafs decided to pick it up. I think this is more for perception than anything else. Depending on what happens at the end of the year (or even sooner if things took a turn for the worse), JFJ could still be let go.

Cheechoo on IR with the knee injury

Selanne gets goal #500 - he's the second Finn in NHL history to hit that mark

Holik gets goal #300 - I wonder how many 300+ goal scorers have never hit 30 goals in a season?

Marleau gets goal #200 - he's the second from his draft class to reach that mark (Hossa was first)

Redden scores in OT - he's the Sens most valuable player. Some may disagree but they made the right move if the choice was either Redden or Chara. However I'm not so sure that choice absolutely had to be made and if so, it should have been made by the trade deadline last year so the Sens could have received compensation for Chara.

Morrison scores in OT - he had a two goal game and may be starting to get things turned around enough that the Canucks will be able to receive something worthwhile in a trade.

Hurricanes hold a closed door meeting after another loss - they were outshot 37-7 through two periods and 47-15 overall. The Canes need some help on D and have to start getting better goaltending.

The final 1:22 of Atlanta-Washington was filled with fights - 148 PIMs in all including 10 fighting majors given to: Vishnevski, de Vries, Hossa, Brashear, Bradley, Erskine, Larsen, Sutherby, Mellanby and Heward and leaving the crease penalties to Hedberg and Kolzig. There were also words exchanged between Hanlon and Hartley, both on the bench and in the corridor after the game. The most lopsided fight was Brashear-Vishnevski. For those who don't like fighting in hockey I think there are many in Washington who would disagree with you - the fans seemed to love it.

Cloutier struggled again. Not much else to say there other than 5 goals on 12 shots.

The Sharks got goals from Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Pavelski, both their first NHL goals. Pavelski was just called up today (he got the call at 4 am) and scored in his first NHL game. The kid seemed a little chocked up during the post-game interview.

Flyers lose AGAIN. Next up they get to see their old coach Hitchcock. Combined those two teams are 10-27-5.

Kaigorodov not happy with the Sens. I'm thinking he won't be in a rush to return to the NHL, even once his rights are traded:

"(Muckler) started telling that I do not understand the game correctly. And I replied to him: 'Did anyone attempt to help me understanding it?' My agent agreed with my point and stated that I just didn't get a chance. The manager tried to find another argument saying that moving to the farm team is just temporary, that I have to be patient, and that I will be called back to the main team soon. Why should we believe this? If they do not let me play now when the things go badly, than are they going to change the lineup when the Senators start winning? What am I hoping for? Creating a winning roster in order to return me? This is a joke! In other words, I was already deceived once, I was not willing for it to happen again."

Sundin back soon - maybe Saturday. Good news for the Leafs - he's always been a quick healer

Forsberg still trying to get healthy. Bad news for the Flyers - he always seems to be struggling to stay healthy. This time it is a combination of foot and back injuries.

Mike Smith gets another shutout, his second in five starts.

Modano hit the post on a penalty shot - he's 0 for 4 in his career.

Lehtinen and Morrow did not play due to injuries

Legace, Theodore and Thomas win in shootouts:

"This is huge," said Legace who finished with 29 saves. "We need to get back on a roll. We battled back and I thought the guys played phenomenal tonight all-around."

"I find if I lose a shootout, I feel devastated," Thomas said. "If I win I feel like I did what I'm supposed to do. Shootouts are a lot like poker -- there's some skill involved, but it's a whole lot of luck."

Columbus was 0-5 under Gary Agnew. Not sure if this tenure will end up on his resume or not.

Sakic's had a sweet backhand move to seal the winner for Colorado.

Buffalo scores 7 - they now have 101 goals and are on pace for 376.

Tucker has 15 goals. If he keeps scoring like this he will price himself out of Toronto's plans.

Briere guaranteed a victory in the second intermission to rookie Michael Ryan who accidently scored on his own goal in his first NHL game. What makes Briere so great is that he actually followed through on his promise, scoring the winner. Phoenix must just be kicking themselves

Yashin with another 2 points. All of a sudden he's no longer the most overpaid player in the league. In fact, he may not even be overpaid at all.

Huet est bon. He struggled out of the gate and I had my doubts but he's impressed recently.

Benoit Pouliot played in his first NHL game

Osgood has a broken wrist - out 3 to 4 weeks

Tampa can score. Craig and Perrin have been contributing offensively - tonight they combined for 3 goals, 2 assists, +5 and 8 SOG

Auld stopped Lecavalier on a penalty shot.

Phoenix surprised and outplayed New Jersey. The Devils had just 15 shots, getting a taste of their own medicine.

Ricci played in his first game of the year. He'll be a nice addition for a team looking for veteran depth around the trade deadline.

Gomez came back. Good news for Jersey, who can use his offense.

Calgary dominated and beat the Hawks. They've now won 7 of 8 and have erased the memories of the team's rough start.

Ruutu has scored in three straight. I'm curious to see how he will do on a line with Havlat.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who are celebrating. Enoy the football and Vancouver/Nashville!

Tuesday in Review

2006-11-22T01:11:00.000-05:00

Game Thoughts
* Should we just call off the rest of the season and start the Anaheim-Buffalo series right now? The Ducks are making a very good San Jose team look pretty bad. Combined the Ducks and Sabres are 32-5-6 for an .814 winning percentage
* Giguere has been fantastic the whole year. Having an insurance policy like Bryzgalov is definitely nice but if they can land an impact player in a deal at some point then I'd definitely pull the trigger
* The Ducks completely shut down the Sharks' big guns and outshot them 44-22
* You can't say enough about Chris Pronger. One thing that is so impressive this year is that he hardly takes any penalties (10 minutes) despite playing almost 30 min per game
* Another two goals for Selanne who was meant to be a Duck - 1.21 PPG in Anaheim and 0.97 PPG in Winnipeg/San Jose/Colorado for his career. Teemu is now one goal away from 500.
* Bryzgalov missed the game with a "lower body injury" - the sudden recall of a minor league goalie is one of the things that triggered the Forsberg rumours this afternoon
* Joe Thornton has had a subpar year by his standards - 5 goals, 23 points in 22 games and -6
* Despite the rivalry game between two very good teams, the attendance was slighly over 15K, well short of a sellout.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Oilers were rewarded once again for signing Petr Sykora as he scored both goals in their 2-1 win
* Sykora is playing like the guy who was on a line with Elias and Arnott way back when
* Both goalies played well tonight, as is usually the case in a 2-1 game
* Hamrlik led all skaters with almost 31 minutes of ice time. The Flames had 6 players who logged under 10 minutes tonight.
* By comparison, the Oilers did not have anyone over 25 minutes, a testament to their depth
* Staios signed a four-year extension today worth $10.8 mil. Seems like a good deal for both sides, similar to what Corvo signed for. For my money I would much rather have Staios than Corvo

* The Canes are one of the most puzzling teams this year - one night they look unbeatable and the next they look inept in all areas and lacking fire. Must be a case of the Cup hangover
* Ward gave up 4+ yet again - the 10th time in 20 starts. If Carolina is going to be a legit Cup contender (or even a playoff contender) their goaltending is going to have to get MUCH better.
* Carolina had some great chances on the Powerplay but failed to score. Their 5-forward PP line is definitely fun to watch although they can still use an offensive D-man to be the quarterback
* Jagr had two-more tonight, passing Jari Kurri to become the highest scoring European born player of all-time
* Lundqvist played well tonight and has played a lot better in November on the whole, giving up 14 goals in 7 starts (2 per game) compared to 36 in his first 10 starts (3.6)
* Marcel Hossa scored his first of the year. Must have been cold there in Marian's shadow...
* Shanahan now leads the league with 17 - I don't think even Sather would have predicted the on-ice impact that Shanny has had this year
* The Rangers for traded Brad Isbister earlier in the day, acquiring him from the Canes. There were once great hopes for Isbister because of his size and similarity to Todd Bertuzzi but in this case he never became the player people thought he could be. He's now moving onto his 6th franchise and still has only cracked 20-goals or 40-points once

On Forsberg...
* I think at some point (if he can get and stay healthy) Peter Forsberg will be traded. With all the injuries he's had, Peter may not have a ton of time left so why shouldn't he go to a contender down the stretch? If he really is committed to Philadephia and they can find a price that they're comfortable to bring him back at, that can be done in the summer. In the meantime the Flyers need to get something for their asset - and they will likely be able to get quite a bit, even as a rental player. But first thing's first - they need to get a skate that he's comfortable in so he can get his confidence up.

Quick Injury Update
* Arnott will miss 3-6 weeks with a knee injury
* Morrow has a groin strain
* Blake has a groin injury and is questionable for the Kings' next game
* Crosby also has a groin injury but it sounds relatively minor
* Gaborik should be back by the end of the month
* Gomez, Kronwall and Holmstrom are ready to go

AP Image

Forsberg on the move?

2006-11-21T15:23:00.000-05:00

Rumours are flying online today that the Flyers may be close to trading Peter Forsberg. If that were to happen, the top three contenders (in my opinion) would be Anaheim, San Jose and Colorado. Stay tuned...

Monday in Review

2006-11-21T00:53:00.000-05:00

I'm getting tired of the nightly three stars - it isn't very original and I'd love to come up with something else. If you have any ideas, just add it to the comments or e-mail me at hockeypassion.blogspot@hotmail.com!

Game Thoughts:

* Marty St. Louis had a pair tonight - the first and last goals of the game. Unfortunately for Tampa, in between those goals, the Sabres scored 7 times in a 16:05 stretch during the second period
* I'm running out of superlatives to describe this Buffalo team, so maybe tonight I'll use a Jay-Z lyric:

I'm so far ahead of my time, I'm bout to start another life
Look behind you, I'm bout to pass you twice

The Sabres are just so much better than the rest of the East right now, it's unbelievable. The only team that is in the same ballpark are the Ducks and they definitely do not have the explosiveness that the Sabres do.

21 games played
90 goals scored
12 players with double digits in points

* Columbus continues to struggle, losing their 6th in a row. Hitchcock and Andy Murray are apparently the two finalists for their coaching job. They are both great candidates but I'd expect Hitch to get the first crack at the job if he's interested - it seems as if the Jackets have targeted him from the beginning and the main question is whether he will hold out for a better situation (ie a team that is closer to winning)
* Vokoun lost the shutout with just 15 seconds left as Nashville continues to roll, yet still stay under the radar for the most part.

* Ottawa continues to climb up in the standings, despite giving up 37 shots over the final two periods tonight
* If the Sens need the cap room later in the year I wonder if they'd consider sending down Gerber - that was certainly money that could have been better spent
* After a slow start and immense criticism, Alfredsson has stepped up. He now has points in 9 of the last 10
* Fisher is another player who really struggled early and is coming on strong over the last little while
* To top it off, the Sens got Redden back too
* Rolston scored on a penalty shot for the second time this year

* Florida played a strong road game and overcame 2 goals from Glen Murray
* Tim Thomas' play of late has quieted the Nabokov talks - at least for a little
* Chara is such a force in both ends - I'm probably beating a dead horse by now but the Sens could have kept Chara for the same money they are paying Gerber, Corvo and Phillips. They would have had to fill the other two roles (backup G and another player on D) with cheap veterans or young players and it would have been tough beyond this year, but they should have found a way to get a deal done

* Another day, another Flyers' loss
* The strangest news of the day was that John Stevens was given a 2-year extension. Of course since we don't know the salary or provisions in the contract, there is still no guarantee that he is their choice for a long-term solution behind the bench
* Crosby had some amazing moves before leaving the game with a groin injury. It doesn't sound too serious but I'm betting that they will be extra cautious with this one.

* Raycroft came back and the Leafs beat the Islanders
* There has been a lot of talk praising New York in the past couple days and I think the excitement is a little premature. They may not be as bad as some people thought but they're still only 10th in the conference to date
* And yes, Dipietro has been playing pretty well but how do you think he is going to be playing in 7 years? How about 12? And 15 years from now?!?
* Paul Maurice was not at all happy on the bench, despite the win:

"We weren't handing out roses after this one,"
"We didn't play the way I wanted in the third period. Clearly, there was not enough profanity on the bench early in the game. I did a nice job of fixing that in the third."

* Two of the former elite in the West squared off in an exciting battle
* Turco was pulled early and Budaj went the whole way for Colorado. Going into the game Budaj had a .929 SVP and 2.03 GAA so he will definitely have a chance to steal the job from Theodore
* Brenden Morrow left the game with a groin injury and did not return (after scoring twice early)

Thumbnail from AP

PS - Heritage Classic Memories to come (Game was actually on the 22nd of November)

Heritage Hockey Classic: 3 Years Later (Part 2)

2006-11-20T11:55:00.000-05:00

Here are the videos I took from Edmonton. I'll be back later with my memories from the weekend..

Meeting Walter Gretzky in the hotel lobby

Legends live at the (then)Skyreach Centre. Players introduced and Paulina Gretzky singing.

Heritage Classic at Commonwealth - Player Intros: Kurri, Messier & Gretzky

Puck is dropped and the Megastars Game begins

Gretzky interview on the bench during the game

Puck is dropped and the first outdoor NHL game begins

Heritage Hockey Classic: 3 Years Later (Part 1)

2006-11-20T01:47:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe that it's actually been three years now since the greatest hockey weekend of my life. I thought I'd try and go back to re-live the weekend and let everyone know what it was like to be in Edmonton for the historic weekend. I've broken it into three parts - Part 1 is the Weekend in Pictures (below), Part 2 is the Weekend in Videos and Part 3 is the Weekend in Writing. If anyone else was there too I'd love to see your pics/hear your stories (hockeypassion.blogspot@hotmail.com). Enjoy!

As bad as it gets?

2006-11-20T00:57:00.000-05:00

Is there anything worse as a sports fan then seeing your favorite player (and your team's best player) go down with a season ending injury? If there is, I can't think of it right now. Not only is your favorite player out but the team's hopes are crushed and you're left waiting for next year yet again.

Wishing you a fast recovery Donovan.

Sunday in Review

2006-11-19T23:52:00.000-05:00

Three Stars:
1. Teemu Selanne - 5 assists, +2
2. Chris Kunitz - 3 goals, 1 assist, +2
3. Jaromir Jagr - 1 goal (#600), 2 assists, +2

Game Thoughts:
* The Rangers were in control from start to finish tonite
* To celebrate #600, looks like Jagr got a new haircut
* New York's offense is carried by four players - Jagr, Shanahan, Nylander and Straka. The foursome accounts for 65% of the team's goals this year. In order to be a threat in the playoffs they will need more depth and some scoring punch on D. That said I'm not sure about these Prucha rumours - doesn't seem like the best idea.
* Lundqvist has been playing much better recently. Not amazing but heading in the right direction
* Perrin scored with 2:40 left to break the shutout
* Holmqvist had won 5 in a row before taking the loss tonight

* Selanne had a huge 5-point night. I remember just a couple years back when he was on the open market and there was very little interest. Now, coming off a 40-goal, 90-point season he seems to have picked up just where he left off.
* Kunitz and McDonald combined for 5 goals and 8 points. It's amazing to think that neither of them were drafted
* Jovanovski played extremely well again tonight. Earlier in the day I read an article that reinforced what I've said earlier - Jovo isn't going anywhere
* Perreault had a 2-point night and already has 6 goals and 9 points in 8 games - I'm sure there are already teams that are regretting not looking at bringing him in for just $700k.

* Vancouver won their second straight, beating the improving Hawks, 2-1
* Josh Green scored the winner in the third, his first goal of the year
* The Canucks' penalty killing has been great as they killed off another 5 tonight
* Both Khabibulin and Luongo played very well. Since returning from injury, Khabibulin has stopped 79 of 84

Thumbnails used from AP.

Jagr Gets #600

2006-11-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

In a classic goaltending dual between Holmqvist and Lundqvist (coincidently both former 7th round picks), Jaromir Jagr scored his 600th career goal. The Rangers become the first team to have two players hit 600 goals in the same season.

Saturday in Review

2006-11-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

Three Stars:1. Eric Staal - 3 G, +1, 7 SOG, 21:45 TOI
2. Alexander Frolov - 2 G, 1 A, +1, 5 SOG, 21:28 TOI
3. Glen Murray - 1 G, 2 A, +1, 5 SOG, 19:47 TOI

Weekend Thoughts
* There were rumours online that the Sharks and Coyotes had completed the Jovanovski-Nabokov deal last night but those proved to be false. While I believe that Phoenix has interest in Nabokov, I don't see the Coyotes trading Jovo after signing him to a 5-year deal. They brought him in to be a cornerstone of the franchise and he obviously wanted to be there long-term, so this one doesn't make a lot of sense.
* Is Ottawa back? Not all the way but they're on the right path. It started by getting Emery back and then getting the PP going
* Is Philly back? No. They're not as bad as they were playing but they're still not a playoff team - not enough depth up front, weak D and inconsistent goaltending
* All of a sudden the Leafs are having trouble scoring. Over the course of the year I still think this will be an issue.
* I must admit I don't know a lot about Johnny Oduya (221st pick overall in 01 by Washington, now with the Devils, but I did notice him last night, playing 29:20 the Devils' win
* Great scrap between Janssen and Belak. If you didn't get to see it, I'm sure it will be up on hockeyfights.com
* Frolov continues to shine for LA - he's had three straight 2-goal games now
* Mike Dunham stopped 43 shots last night for the Islanders. He's played extremely well this year (3-1-2, .932 SVP, 2.45 GAA)
* Carolina scored 9 times on Friday/Saturday, and left with 4 points. On Friday is was the Cole-Brind'Amour-Whitney line that starred and last night it was Staal and Williams - that is what makes this team such a threat
* Dallas also scored 9 times in two nights but only picked up one win. Still it's good news for a team that has had trouble scoring
* Colorado gave up 1 goal in two games with Budaj in net and also picked up 4 points on the weekend
* Detroit lost twice, both in Calgary and Edmonton after winning 9 in a row
* Boston has now won 4 in a row and seem to be coming on strong

NHL on YouTube

2006-11-18T16:09:00.000-05:00

You've probably already read about the NHL's new partnership that they've formed with YouTube. While their channel doesn't yet seem to be working (www.youtube.com/NHL) they've started to post videos this week. Here's hoping that the league continues to explore innovative ways to reach consumers and that this partnership is a success.

Here are the NHL's Plays of the Week:

Classic Video: Hextall/Chelios

2006-11-18T13:52:00.000-05:00

If anyone else has requests for videos, just leave a comment or e-mail at hockeypassion.blogspot@hotmail.com

Some quotes from Hextall (from NHL.com article)

“I just felt like you go out there and you play to win and you do everything possible to try to win a game,” Hextall says. “That, basically, to me, was the goal. I don’t apologize for the way I played. That’s me, that’s just the way I viewed the game.”

“Some people didn’t agree with the way I played and that’s fine. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion.”

“I went out there and I loved to play the game. Didn’t like to lose. Personally, I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t think anybody likes to lose. But I think some people take it to a greater extreme than others. Did I get carried away? At times, yeah, that’s fair to say.”

Friday in Review

2006-11-18T13:17:00.000-05:00

Last night's game thoughts will be coming soon.

I'm also working on a lengthy piece remembering the Heritage Hockey Classic as I was in Edmonton 3 years ago this weekend...

Three Stars:

1. Rod Brind'Amour - 2 G, 2 A, +2, 23:06 TOI, 19-10 on faceoffs
2. Peter Budaj - shutout, 25 saves
3. Jamie Lagenbrunner - 2 G, 1 A, +1, 19:39 TOI

Classic Video: Pond of Dreams

2006-11-17T01:36:00.000-05:00

I got into a good discussion about the NHL and it's marketing efforts over on hockeybuzz and somebody mentioned this video. I'd often tried to find this one since I first saw it in 2000. After a quick search online I realized that I actually had a copy of it on my Ultimate Gretzky DVD (the bonus one) and so I posted it for you guys.

Enjoy!

Thursday in Review

2006-11-17T01:10:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars:
1. Olli Jokinen
2. Ryan Smyth
3. Mikko Koivu

Game Thoughts:
* Minnesota wins a wild one over Nashville, 7-6. Each team had 45 shots and the shooters were 5 of 8 in the shootout
* Chris Mason went the whole way for the Preds as Vokoun had the night off. Vokoun was actually interviewed on the bench during the game which was pretty interesting (until the Wild scored and the announcers didn't acknowledge it because they were chatting away)
* The Leafs were outplayed by the Bruins and could only score once on Tim Thomas, losing 2-1
* Bergeron and Boyes were all over the ice and combined for 12 shots. Aubin played extremely well or the score could have been much worse
* Boston has now won three in a row and may be turning the corner after a tough start. Sometimes it takes some time to incorporate new players into the lineup when you make significant offseason changes
* Montreal struggled in their second of back-to-back games
* Jokinen played a fantastic game, scoring three times at even-strength - all setup by Nate Horton
* Montreal seemed to run out of steam - they were outshot 32-15 over the final two periods
* Belfour has been very solid - he's only given up more than three goals in one of his last nine starts
* Nieuwendyk returned after missing two games with a bad back. If he is healthy he will be a hot commodity near the deadline - there aren't many guys who have won three Cups on three teams that will be available
* Smyth played and played very well, leading the way with two goals - he now has 14 goals and just 5 assists
* Doug Weight played game #1000 against his former team
* Bergeron scored twice and that may be the first step towards getting out of MacTavish's doghouse
* The Coyotes won a hard-fought game over the Hawks in a shootout. Nagy narrowly escaped a knee injury and then came back to score the winning goal in the shootout
* I actually agree with Tie Domi that Yanic Perreault is extremely underrated. Even if you ignore his offensive ability, he's one of the best faceoff men in the game and that is a huge asset in the playoffs
* The Kings were in control of the game until just under 7 minutes to go - then the Flyers scored three straight to steal the two points. The Kings frantically tried to tie it up, but to no avail
* Mike Richards still hasn't scored but he had three assists tonight, two on goals by Umberger
* Frolov is really starting to become the go-to guy when the Kings need a goal - he has 7 goals and 12 points in his last 8 games.
* If there was a Mario Lemieux comeback player of the night award it would go to Derian Hatcher who played 24+ minutes and was a +3!!

Nagy gets kneed

2006-11-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

When is the NHL going to step up and get these hits out of the game?!? They had a great chance to set a precident with Liles earlier in the week but did nothing. Now Ladislav Nagy was the recipient of a knee-on-knee hit and all the player got was a minor for tripping. These types of hits need to be treated severely and taken out of the game ASAP.

Edit: Nagy did return later in the game and appears to be ok.

Cheechoo Day-to-Day

2006-11-16T20:29:00.000-05:00

According to TSN, Cheechoo's injury is not considered serious. He isn't expected to miss much (if any) time, which is a huge relief for Sharks fans.

Classic Video: Gretzky Highlights

2006-11-16T16:26:00.000-05:00

Wednesday in Review

2006-11-16T00:49:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars:

1. Rick Dipietro
2. Sheldon Souray
3. David Legwand

One-Line Game Thoughts:
* Rangers played well and deserved a better fate but they could only beat Ward once
* Emery came back just in time to save the Sens in a very rare November playoff game
* Columbus either can't score or can't stop em - tonight they chose option #2 which is at least more entertaining for the fans
* Washington still hasn't scored in a shootout as Thomas stopped all three
* Souray must be in a contract year to be playing this well - he leads D-men with 8 goals now after scoring twice to lead Montreal to vicory
* Rick Dipietro earned his paycheck tonight, stopping all 35 shots he faced
* The Sharks comeback was led by Thornton and Marleau but may have come at a huge price if Cheechoo's injury is severe
* The Flyers exploded for seven with Forsberg and Knuble back, but unfortunately it didn't rub off on Mike Richards, whose goalless streak is now at 42 games

Five for Philly

2006-11-15T22:49:00.000-05:00

The Flyers have exploded for five goals in the 1st period in Anaheim with 2 minutes still to go on goals from Kapanen, Sanderson, Forsberg, Knuble and Gagne. Giguere gets the hook after allowing 5 on 11 shots.

Edit: The Ducks just scored to make it 5-2

Cheechoo Hurt?

2006-11-15T22:38:00.000-05:00

Cheechoo just left the ice with that looked like a possible knee injury. So far whenever I have posted a potential injury in real time (Ovechkin, Smyth, etc) it hasn't turned out to be serious - let's hope that for the Sharks' sake this one isn't either..

Sens-Sabres 3rd Period Live Blog..

2006-11-15T20:53:00.000-05:00

This is a little experiment. We'll see how it works out. If you have any comments you can add me on MSN at hockeypassion.blogspot.hotmail.com and I can incorporate your thoughts into my post. Enjoy..

Ottawa is being outshot 18-14 - doesn't seem like a desperate team to me. Here we go..

The Sens need Eaves, Fisher and Schafer to step up. Last year they combined for 62. This year they have just 6.

McGuire thinks this is the most overrated "speed" team in the league. He's right that they can't keep up with the Sabres.

Bryan Murray seems a little worried - I think he told his team that every time they get the puck near the Sabres' net they should all just celebrate as if they scored and maybe the ref will count it.

9-1 and 1-8 - the two teams' records in one-goal games.

Nice save by Emery - he's much more confident than Gerber.

Emmitt Smith wins Dancing with the Stars!! (update from my wife)

Buffalo is amazing offensively but they can also play strong D when needed - Ruff is underrated..

Heatley goes offside at the blueline. In an unrelated story, Hossa leads the league with 30 points.

Sens just missed on a couple opportunities around Biron. Maybe somebody told them that this game was important..

In Tampa, Souray scores his 2nd of the game and 8th of the year, 2-1 Montreal.

Sens on the PP..

Here comes the overrated Joe Corvo. Nothing doing there. Sens having trouble setting up. Hamel is trying to setup in front of the net.. I'd stick Neil in there instead.

Sabres have almost killed it off...

But the Sens SCORE. Meszaros. 2-2. Spezza may have gotten a piece of it but I think that one was going to go in either way.

Now it really gets interesting.

Fisher is stopped on a partial breakaway but the Sens are going back on the PP..

I wonder if anyone is actually reading this. If I'm the Sens I'm VERY weary of allowing another shorthanded goal. I wonder if they remember the Pominville goal?

Enough wondering. Let's check the out of town scores - 1-1 New York-Carolina, 3-2 Nashville, 2-2 Boston-Wash, 2-1 Montreal over TBay and 1-0 NYI over Dallas.

Sens shoot it in and Biron grabs it. Here comes Dutchie to show us Souray's goal. But I told you about that one already.

Spezza's parents are in the crowd. So is one of Melnyk's top guys. Any chance that Pat Quinn is watching this one?

Sabres try to clear and can't. Then they get it back and do. 40 seconds left to kill.

Drury JUST missed the short-side on a short-handed chance. That would have been devastating.

The Sens are so shaken up they get caught with too many men out there. Not the best time for that. Unless you're Ken Hitchcock/Pat Burns.

Briere has been clutch in these situations recently. If the league had a Pat Lafontaine leadership trophy he would have won it for October.

Schaefer tries to actually do something but Biron makes the save.

Apparently the Sens have turned the puck over 17 times tonight. Kings fans are likely thinking most of those were Corvo's.

I'm suprised how much better Vanek is than Zherdev at this point in their careers. 8 minutes to go.

My wife is very glad that Emmitt won - he was the most improved apparently.

SENS SCORE!!! Alfredsson!!

I think it was tipped by Schaefer. Shades of Brett Hull from the World Cup.

It was close but I don't think this one will be waved off.

Carolina goes up 2-1 on a goal by Brind'Amour.

GOAL. Sens take the lead.

Now let's see if the comeback kids can pull off another one.

Elsewhere, Columbus is actually scoring goals but can't seem to stop them tonight - 5-4 Nashville.

Another penalty coming up for Buffalo. The Sens are actually outskating them and winning most of the battles.

Hamel is getting a lot of PP time in the 3rd as Murray desperately tries to find something that works.

You can tell the Sabres are cheating a bit hoping for a shorthanded break.

Sabres kill it off. Four minutes to go.

Carolina holds on to beat the Rangers 2-1.

Card and Peters have each only played about a minute tonight.

Emery comes up huge off the faceoff. I have a feeling he'll be tested quite a bit over these last 3 minutes.

Ottawa has lost three games already in November where they had the lead late.

The Sabres are coming on but Ottawa is playing well in their own end.

Mair is so great on the forecheck. He never stops hitting.

2 minutes to go. Spezza sticks out the leg and is going to the box.

Sens want a diving call but that was a legit penalty.

Buffalo setting up on the PP..

Sabres crash the net hard but can't get a goal yet - Phillips closed his hand on the puck for just a second but got away with it. I seem to remember a similar play in the 93 Finals..

Nashville holds on to win 5-4. Sabres pull the goalie 6 on 4..

Sens score on the empty net.. (and celebrate like they won a playoff game)

Chris Phillips gets it. I don't think I've ever seen Alfredsson skate so hard as he did when the puck was rolling towards the empty net.

Sabres almost score but Emery makes a big stop and gets some help.

Sens win. Sens win.

Great third period for Ottawa. You really notice the difference with Emery over Gerber.

Click. Boston and Washington in OT. I'll stick around until the end of that one in the hopes we'll see a shootout.

Are there many better things than the Rogers Super Sports Pack where you get all the Hockey, Football, Basketball and Baseball games for about $25 a month?

Thomas made a glove save off AO but left the puck in the crease for a few seconds - they still need more stable goaltending if Boston wants to be a playoff team.

Bergeron trying to go coast to coast but loses the puck. Washington just misses on a great chance.

20 seconds. Kolzig makes a save and the Caps are stopped on one last rush. Here comes the shootout.

Montreal now up 3-1 on Tampa. Latendresse scored again.

Patrick Roy says the only reason he is on the top line and getting PP time is because he's French and has a long name (not because of the 4 goals in 4 games).

Let's see who is on the lists..

Dave Lewis has to do something about that moustach. Both teams haven't won a shootout this year.

Semin is up first. And Sturm is 1st for Boston.

Semin is stopped on a wrist shot from pretty far out.

Sturm is stopped on the stick side.

Here comes AO. Only 6 for 16 for his career.

He goes to the backhand and Thomas sticks out the pad.

Bergeron comes in on an angle and slides it between Kolzig's pads.

Pettinger shoots and Thomas gets a blocker on it - and the Bruins win back-to-back games for the first time all year.

Montreal looks like they will start the Florida trip on a winning note, up 3-1 late in the third.

Elsewhere, NYI is up 2-0 on Dallas, Colorado is up 1-0 over San Jose after one and Philly-Anaheim will start in about 10 minutes.

Ok that's it for me for now. I know you guys don't like to leave messages but if you liked/disliked the live blog or ever want to see another one, let me know - either leave a comment or e-mail me at hockeypassion.blogspot@hotmail.com.

2-1 Sabres

2006-11-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

Thomas Vanek scores early in the second..

I think I'm going to try a live blog in the third if the game is close. Stay tuned...

Ovechkin fires Meehan

2006-11-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

According to TSN, Alexander Ovechkin has parted ways with Newport Sports and will hire his Mom, Tatiana, to represent him. All agents must be certified by the NHLPA which means that she will need to start by filling out their "Application for Certification as an NHLPA Player Agent."

Personally I don't think this is a good move. Meehan is one of the best agents around and it's never a good idea to mix family and business. Plus for a star like Ovechkin he needs somebody to handle his career of the ice as well as his contracts and while his mom was a star athlete (she won two Olympic gold medals in basketball), she will soon learn that the business side of pro sports is pretty complex.

I understand the desire to keep the money in the family (in terms of the commission) but when you consider how much a player like Ovechkin can gain off the ice it is better to get the best representative possible to manage his career.

Smyth OK. Emery OK.

2006-11-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

Ryan Smyth returned to practice and should be ready to go tomorrow night.

Ray Emery is starting in a critical game for the Sens. If they lose in Buffalo tonight, it's very likely to trigger a response. What that response will be is unclear, but if I had to guess I'd say it would be an off-ice move. I have no sources whatsoever but I think that Pat Quinn would be a very good fit behind the bench, perhaps with Tambellini as GM.

Classic Video: 1980 All-star Game Intro

2006-11-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

Tuesday in Review

2006-11-15T01:08:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars:

1. Miika Kiprusoff
2. Jaromir Jagr
3. Oleg Saprykin

Game Thoughts:
* Just when it looked like Jersey had everything under control, the Rangers exploded for three goals in 90 seconds
* Apparently Tom Renney ripped into the team after the second period
* Jagr came up big yet again - if his shoulder isn't 100% healed it doesn't show
* Gomez missed another game. Jersey doesn't have much depth up front so they will need him back in the lineup asap - Elias, Gionta and Langenbrunner accounted to 13 of 22 shots (59%)
* New York has a similar problem as Jagr, Shanahan and Nylander had 15 of 24 shots (63%)
* Colton Orr and Cam Janssen each spent more time in the penalty box (5 minutes) than on the ice (2:08 and 3:56 respectively)
* Shanahan was the winner of the first "Mark Messier Award" - to celebrate he had a goal and 7 SOG.
* With one Hossa at the top of the league in scoring (30 pts) the other is no longer at the bottom as he picked up his first two points of the season.

* Calgary won their 5th in a row. I think it's safe to say that they are back and they will be a threat in the West
* Kiprusoff notched shutout #3 and gave up 2 or less for the 5th straight start
* Anyone who mentioned Iginla in a trade rumour truly doesn't recognize how valuable he is to this team
* St. Louis is kindof a strange team - not really rebuilding but not good enough to makea playoff run in all liklihood
* Sanford left with a groin injury after making a great glove "save" where his glove may have crossed the line with the puck

* Saprykin and Perreault each tripled their goal totals tonight as the Coyotes won 4-3
* The Coyotes were down 2-0 when Laraque dropped the gloves with 6-7, 270 lb Derek Boogaard
* Boogaard feel awkwardly on his leg and left the game with an other - yet another fighting injury to add to the list this year
* Joseph made a big glove save on Demitra as time expired - there's no way that a good team would let him get the puck in that postion with seconds to go
* Gaborik has missed 10 games and still doesn't sound close to returning. The last two seasons he has played just 65 games and he seems on track for around that number barring any future injuries
* Nagy is an underrated offensive player who would be coveted by quite a few teams if they make him available at the deadline

* The Wings have now won 9 straight and the Canucks continue to struggle
* Hasek finally gave up a goal (two actually) but Franzen scored the winner on a shorthanded goal that Luongo wishes he could have back
* Zetterberg has scored in four of five games
* Hasek has given up 23 goals in 782 minutes. By comparison Martin Gerber has allowed 40 in 695 minutes.
* Chelios has only been a minus in one of 16 games
* Lidstrom was fantastic once again, playing over 30 minutes. People thought Detroit would fall back to the pack when Yzerman and Shanahan left but as long as they have Lidstrom and a good supporting cast they will still be a top team
* Morrison continues to really struggle at both ends of the rink - he has one point and is -8 in his last five games. Maybe they should sit him for a game to try and clear his head.

Other Thoughts:
* It's got to be a concern for Oiler fans that Smyth is being re-evaluated on Wednesday. If it was just a charley-horse I'm not sure why that would be necessary
* I wish the NHL would protect it's players better - even if Liles just got a game it would send a message that those knee-on-knee hits are not acceptable
* Sounds like Redden may be out for a little while - news that couldn't come at a worse time for the Sens
* Apparently members of Ottawa's ownership group will be going to Buffalo for the game on Wednesday night. They may get a boost if Emery is ready to go but on the road against the powerful Sabres - this could be very bad news for Muckler and/or Murray
* Columbus will be interviewing Ken Hitchcock this week (maybe as soon as Wednesday). I read that he would prefer the Ottawa job but personally I think Quinn is a better fit there and Hitch would be just what Columbus needs. I hope Andy Murray receives strong consideration for any openings as well - the guy is a great coach and a class act
* The Leafs will get a boost to their lineup as Kubina is back and ready to return to the lineup
* I don't have ESPN insider so I can't read the whole article but EJ Hradek posted an article this evening called "Forsberg's Philly days numbered". As I've been saying it makes sense for both Forsberg and the Flyers to get a deal done over the next little while and I'd expect Anaheim to be near the front of the line when the bidding heats up.

QOTD: Is Columbus better than their record?

2006-11-14T13:44:00.000-05:00

Well let's take a look at their roster...

G - Leclaire and Norrena
Leclaire came into the season with 33 career starts under his belt (11 wins). He was drafted 8th overall in 2001 which was the weakest 1st round in recent history. While he played well last year as Denis' backup, he was clearly unproven as a #1 goalie. Instead of bringing in an experienced goalie to help shoulder the load and teach the 24-year old Leclaire, the Jackets decided to go with Fredrik Norrena, a 32-year old goalie (on Nov 29) with absolutely no NHL experience. Norrena has spent his career playing in Finland and Sweden.

D - Foote, Klesla, Hainsey, Eriksson, Johnson, Tollefsen
IR - Westcott (out 6-8 weeks), Berard (out 2-3 months)

Even with Berard and Westcott this is not a strong group but without them it's quite weak. They knew going into the year that Berard would be out for a while but they didn't bring in anyone to quarterback the powerplay. Foote has been left to play over 26 minutes a game (10th in the entire league) and is being relied on too much. Overall the group has limited offensive capabilities/mobility, little depth and they have Anders Eriksson. And those aren't good things.

F - Nash, Zherdev, Fedorov, Vyborny, Carter, Modin, Brule, Malholtra, Fritsche, Svitov, Chimera, Goertzen, Shelley

On paper this should be the strength of the team but Columbus only has 32 goals in 15 games, and 18 of them have been on the powerplay. The main problem is that they have guys who can put the puck in the net but not players who can create offense on their own. That is why they are scoring less than one goal per game at even strength.

There is no doubt that Nash is a pure goal scorer - he has 93 career goals and only 68 assists. He needs somebody to get him the puck in a scoring position or a defenceman with a great shot from the point so he can crash the net and create havoc on the PP. Modin and Carter are similar-type players - Modin also has more career goals than assists (186 to 183) and Carter has almost the same number of goals and assists for his careeer, but in recent years he has been much more one-dimensional (last 2 seasons: 48 goals, 35 assists). Zherdev can create offense off the rush but his forte is as a one-on-one player and he definitely still has to learn how to use his linemates better.

With those four scorers the Jackets should have picked up somebody who can get them the puck. But their only true playmaker in his prime is Vyborny (who is a winger). Fedorov is almost 37 and his best days are behind him. His goals and assist numbers have declined drastically in recent years and he's also had problems staying healthy. Columbus may have been hopeful that Brule could step up but at 19 that was clearly wishful thinking (as were any thoughts that Svitov would finally breakthrough after being drafted #3 overall in the same draft as Leclaire). All their other players are third liners at best and can't be relied on to produce offense consistently.

In the "new NHL", bad teams are getting exposed 5-on-5 and the Jackets have been outscored 32-14. Looking at this team on paper I am not surprised at all that they are 5-9-1. I've mentioned a few times already that there are 10 teams in the West who are playoff contenders which means that to make the playoffs the Jackets would have to finish ahead of three of: Anaheim, Detroit, Nashville, San Jose, Minnesota, Dallas, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Colorado. No matter who the next coach will be (and Hitchcock would be a great choice) this team will be drafting high for the 8th straight year and will need more playmakers and guys who can skate before they turn it around on the ice. The future is bright with all their high draft picks but for now Columbus is pretty much where they should be in the standings.

Classic Video: Messier Top 10

2006-11-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

One Month Old..

2006-11-14T01:50:00.000-05:00

Some stats:
161 posts
1730 Total # of Hits
220 Most Hits in a Day (yesterday)

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to come by. I know that there are countless hockey sites online and your time is valauble so I appreciate those who are reading my posts, especially those who are coming by regularly.

You may have noticed that there aren't any ads on this site (not even those annoying google ads) so I can't say I'm getting a lot out of this exchange other than my desire to share my opinions with you and to help promote the greatest game on earth. Anything else that comes out of it is a bonus. (Although in the sake of full transparency I should tell you that I have ambitions of becoming the NHL Commissioner one day).

This is a site for the fans by a fan. So tell all your friends. And if you have any suggestions/complaints/thoughts, please let me know.

Danny
hockeypassion.blogspot@hotmail.com

Monday in Review

2006-11-14T01:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars

1. Olaf Kolzig
2. Ryan Smyth
3. Teppo Numminen

Game Thoughts:
* Buffalo continues to fly while Ottawa and Philadelphia continue to lose
* Sabres are now 10-0 on the road
* Numminen passed Kurri tonight for most GP by a European - and he had 3 assists
* Ward has been playing much better recently but was lit up for six tonight
* Latandress is fitting in well with Koivu and Ryder
* Gerber looked good for a while but gave up too many weak goals once again
* The Oilers were lucky Smyth didn't have a serious knee injury - that was a dirty hit by Liles and I expect he'll get a call from Colin Campbell tomorrow
* Smyth had a fantastic game as did Roloson
* Olaf Kolzig has won two in a row, stopping 85 of 87 shots. It's too bad he's been burried on such a bad team - Kolzig is still capable of playing like one of the best over a stretch of games and he'd be a hot commodity around the deadline if he ever wanted to leave Washington (which is doubtful)
* The Kings played probably their best game of the year against a strong opponent. Dustin Brown was all over the ice and Frolov played very well too - Crawford always had a way of getting the best out of his young players
* Philly lost again as the Pens got goals from Crosby, Malkin and Staal
* Philadelphia's PP was a horrendous 4.4% on the road going into the game and they failed to score yet again (0-5)
* The Flyers have won THREE out of 17. To reach 92 points they would need to play .646 hockey the rest of the way (38-19 -8). There is NO chance of that happening - time to start planning for next year (ie starting the bidding for Forsberg)

Ryan Smyth Injured - just a Charley Horse

2006-11-14T00:02:00.001-05:00

After scoring both Oiler goals tonight, Ryan Smyth left the game late with an apparent injury after a knee-on-knee hit by John-Michael Liles.

Smyth has 1/4 of the Oiler goals this season and he's been in on 35%. If he misses significant time this will be a serious blow to the Oilers' playoff hopes, with 10 legit contenders vying for eight spots in the West.

Edit: According to Dan Tencer on hockeybuzz.com the injury is just a charley horse and NOT a knee injury. Great news for the Oilers..

Time to Clean House in Ottawa?

2006-11-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

After another tough loss, the pressure is going to be on the Sens to make a move. This move will either be on the ice (in the form of a trade) or off the ice (firing one or both of Muckler and Murray).

Personally I think it's time to make a change in the front office and behind the bench.

Last season the Sens were 52-21-9 but they struggled down the stretch, winning just 4 of their last 13 before losing in the 2nd round to Buffalo.

This year the expectations were high once again and they have won just 6 of 17. Unlike Philadelphia this team has the skill to turn things around but it needs to happen very soon.

Ottawa's powerplay was the worst in the league at 9.8% going into tonight.
They've now given up a league-worst SEVEN short-handed goals

That suggests to me that the coaching should be much better - a team with Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson should have a top powerplay, not the worst in all of hockey.

The Sens received absolutely nothing for Zdeno Chara. They knew that it would be unlikely that they would be able to keep both him and Redden but refused to acknowledge that fact and make a trade last year. Instead they went into the playoffs with an unproven Ray Emery, were outskated by a division rival and were knocked out on a short-handed goal.

When the team needed a boost at the deadline last year, the solution was to trade Bochenski for Tyler Arnason (4 pts in 19 games, benched in the playoffs) and to add Mike Morrison (who isn't even good enough to be the backup in Phoenix).

The Sens traded Martin Havlat who is a top young player with a ton of potential (and the guy who was leading the league in points this year before his injury) along with Brian Smolinski (their 6th leading scorer last year), who put up close to 50 points for them in back-to-back years to Chicago. All they got in return was Tom Preissing, Josh Hennessy, Michal Barinka and a 2nd rounder. Some good young prospects but a package that is not going to help the team any time soon.

They gave Martin Gerber (the guy who lost his job in the playoffs last year) $11.1 million over 3 years. So far he has been nothing short of awful.

They gave Joe Corvo (a defenceman with a hard shot but average at best defensively) $10.5 million over 4 years.

The new NHL is all about asset management and salary cap management. To me these moves suggest that the front office should be doing better.

I've mentioned before that I thought Pat Quinn would be the perfect fit for this team if Murray is fired. I believe that Mike Keenan has worked with him before so he could be a good choice for the GM job.

As for the on-ice product, the goaltending will need to be fixed. Hopefully for their sake Emery will not be out too long and they can give Gerber some time off to rediscover his form. If neither of them workout then Curtis Joseph could probably be had closer to the deadline. And if the price for Conroy is too high I would look at another ex-Leaf who played under Quinn, Joe Nieuwendyk.

4-2 Habs - 8 min to go

2006-11-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

The Sens have a two-man advantage and desperately need a goal.

If Ottawa loses and they end up looking for a new coach, I think Pat Quinn would be a good fit for them.

Well there's the goal - 4-3 now. Gonna be a great finish...

Edit: 6-3 Montreal - another disappointing loss.

What a night...

2006-11-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

Great speech by Herb Brooks' son and these Roy highlights are just incredible. It's been so long you almost forget how truly amazing some of his saves were (and how small his equipment was early in his career). He also just said that he was surprised the Habs didn't try to smooth things over after the incident in Montreal and instead told him it was past the point of no return.

Why are there games on now?!?!?

2006-11-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

Why would the NHL put games on at the same time as the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony?

The entire focus of the hockey world should be on Dick Duff, Harley Hotchkiss, the late Herb Brooks and Patrick Roy right now. Is it really too much to ask for an hour or an hour and a half to honour those who have built up and starred in the game?

My suggestion - either have the ceremony on a Sunday night and just have one game on after or keep the game on the Monday night, from 6:30 to 8 and start the games a little later. You could even open up the arenas early and have the ceremony shown on all the jumbotrons across the league.

Gerard Gallant Fired

2006-11-13T17:54:00.000-05:00

After taking over in 03-04 the team went 16-25-4. Last year the Jackets were 6th last overall with a 35-43-4 record and this year they're third last in the league at 5-9-1.

That's 56 wins in 142 games which will usually get you fired. But looking at their roster on paper I'm not sure they're much better than their record this year indicates.

I expect we'll hear the usual suspects mentioned for this one and it's very possible that Hitchcock will be in the mix.

Note: the story was broken by Eklund on hockeybuzz.com. It has not yet been posted on TSN or Sportsnet as of a few minutes before 6 PM

Ideas for Awards

2006-11-13T16:40:00.000-05:00

How about the Colleen Howe award for the most influential female in hockey for the given year?

Or the Dan Snyder award given to a young undrafted player who has made the greatest impact on his team that year?

Or the Vladimir Konstantinov award to the best International ambassador?

Any other ideas?

Is the Messier Award Inappropriate?

2006-11-13T16:00:00.000-05:00

Again nothing against Mark Messier, but did the NHL really think this one through and decide whether this was the best name for this new award? Having an award named after you is a much higher honour than being inducted to the Hall of Fame - only 15 trophies have been named after individuals while by my count there are 413 inductees to the Hall prior to tonight's festivities.

Is this the best way of honouring probably the greatest leader of all-time or is the league being disrespectful of the history of the game and those who have built and given their lives to the sport?

Other annual awards were donated/named after league presidents, royalty/political figures, to honour the deceased the and for the league's builders (descriptions used from NHL.com). Maurice Richard was the only player to have an award named after him while he was still alive, and the award was created 39 years after his retirement :

PRESIDENTS
* Frank Calder (from 1936-37 until his death in 1943, Frank Calder, NHL President, bought a trophy each year to be given permanently to the outstanding rookie)
* Clarence Campbell (president from 1946 to 1977)

PLAYERS
* Maurice Richard Trophy (a gift to the NHL from the Canadiens in 1999 to honor the first player in League history to score 50 goals in 50 games, 50 goals in a season and 500 in a career. Richard had retired in 1960 and passed away a year after the trophy was created)

DECEASED PLAYERS
* Bill Masterton (to commemorate the late William Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars, who exhibited, to a high degree, the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Masterton died on Jan. 15, 1968, after an injury sustained during a hockey game)
* Georges Vezina (Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau, and Joe Cattarinich, former owners of the Montreal Canadiens, presented the trophy to the National Hockey League in 1926-27 in memory of Georges Vezina, outstanding goalkeeper of the Canadiens, who collapsed during an NHL game Nov. 28, 1925, and died of tuberculosis a few months later)

ROYALTY/POLITICAL FIGURE
* Prince of Wales Trophy (donated in 1924)
* Lady Byng (wife of Canada's Governor-General at the time, presented the Lady Byng trophy in 1925. After Frank Boucher of the New York Rangers won the award seven times in eight seasons, he was given the trophy to keep and Lady Byng donated another trophy in 1936. After Lady Byng's death in 1949, the National Hockey League presented a new trophy, changing the name to Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.)
* Lester B. Pearson (in honor of the late Lester B. Pearson, former Prime Minister of Canada)

BUILDERS
* Art Ross (Arthur Howie Ross, former manager-coach of the Boston Bruins, presented the trophy to the National Hockey League in 1947).
* Conn Smythe (presented by Maple Leaf Gardens Limited in 1964 to honor Conn Smythe, the former coach, manager, president and owner-governor of the Toronto Maple Leafs)
* Selke Trophy (presented to the National Hockey League in 1977 by the Board of Governors of the NHL in honor of Frank J. Selke, one of the great architects of NHL championship teams)
Hart Memorial (donated to the NHL in 1923 by Dr. David A. Hart, father of Cecil Hart, former manager-coach of the Montreal Canadiens)
* Jack Adams (to commemorate the late Jack Adams, former coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. His lifetime dedication to hockey has served as an inspiration to all who aspire to further the game)
* James Norris (presented in 1953 by the four children of the late James Norris in memory of the former owner-president of the Detroit Red Wings)
* Clancy Trophy (to honor the late Frank "King" Clancy - former player, coach and referee)
* Lester Patrick Trophy (to honor the late Lester Patrick. Patrick was a longtime general manager and coach of the Rangers, whose teams finished out of the playoffs only once in his first 16 years with the club)
* Jennings Trophy (to honor the late William M. Jennings, longtime governor and president of the New York Rangers and one of the great builders of hockey in the United States)

Mark Messier Award

2006-11-13T14:57:00.000-05:00

As posted on TSN, the NHL is introducing a new monthly award tomorrow evening, called the Mark Messier Award. According to the article:

"Messier, with input from the league, will select a player in each month who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice. There will also be a leader of the year award given at the end of the regular season."

Since the award is being given out in New York tomorrow, I would guess that it will be given to a player on either the Devils or the Rangers. I'm thinking probably Brodeur, who has 10 wins and 3 shutouts thus far (both tied for the league lead). My pick thus far would be Daniel Briere.

A couple quick thoughts:
1. It's a little surprising that Messier gets his own award ahead of guys like Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux or Howe
2. I'm not sure why he is the one who gets to select the winner (with input from the league)
3. I think it would be better as a yearly award instead of a monthly award. It's not like they give out awards for the highest scorer of the month, best goalie or the month or coach of the month, so leader of the month seems a little forced.

Don't get me wrong, Messier is one of my favorite players of all-time but the NHL seems to be coming up with these ideas ad hoc without a clear overall strategy. Afterall, November 14th seems to be a little late to be handing out awards for October.

Following the Patrick Roy deal

2006-11-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be interesting to see exactly what the Habs got in return for arguably the greatest goalie of all-time:

06-Dec-95:
Montreal Canadiens traded Patrick Roy and Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche for Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinsky and Jocelyn Thibault.
______________________
KOVALENKO
06-Sep-96:
Montreal Canadiens traded Andrei Kovalenko to the Edmonton Oilers for Scott Thornton.

01-Jul-00:
Scott Thornton signed as an unrestricted free agent by the San Jose Sharks.
______________________
RUCINSKY
21-Nov-01:
Montreal Canadiens traded Martin Rucinsky and Benoit Brunet to the Dallas Stars for Donald Audette and Shaun Van Allen.

24-Jul-02:
Shaun Van Allen Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Ottawa Senators.

15-Jan-04:
Donald Audette signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Florida Panthers.
______________________
THIBAULT
16-Nov-98:
Chicago Blackhawks traded Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich, Alain Nasreddine and 4th round selection (previously acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning - Chris Dyment) in 1999 to the Montreal Canadiens for Jocelyn Thibault, Dave Manson and Brad Brown.

21-Feb-00:
Montreal Canadiens traded Eric Weinrich to the Boston Bruins for Patrick Traverse.

09-Mar-00:
Montreal Canadiens traded Igor Ulanov and Alain Nasreddine to the Edmonton Oilers for Christian Laflamme and Matthieu Descoteaux.

21-Aug-01:
Christian Laflamme signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Blues.

25-May-02:
Montreal Canadiens traded Chris Dyment to the Minnesota Wild for a 5th round selection (later traded to Calgary - Jiri Cetkovsky) in 2002.

23-Jan-03:
Montreal Canadiens traded Jeff Hackett to the San Jose Sharks for Niklas Sundstrom and a 3rd round selection in 2004. * 3rd rounder later traded - information unavailable

09-Sep-04:
Patrick Traverse signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Dallas Stars. (later re-acquired by Montreal off waivers from SJ)

01-Sep-05:
Mathieu Descoteaux signed with EHC Freiburg (Germany).

06-Jun-06:
Niklas Sundstrom signed with the MoDo Hockey of the Elitserein (Sweden).
______________________
NET RESULT
Montreal Trades...
Patrick Roy
Mike Keane
Benoit Brunet
Dave Manson
Brad Brown
Igor Ulanov

In Return For...
Martin Rucinsky - 432 GP, 297 PTS
Andre Kovalenko - 51 GP, 34 PTS
Jocelyn Thibault - 158 starts
Scott Thornton - 187 GP, 46 PTS
Donald Audette - 90 GP, 37 PTS
Shaun Van Allen - 54 GP, 15 PTS
Jeff Hackett - 161 starts
Eric Weinrich - 203 GP, 72 PTS
Alain Nasreddine - 8 GP, 0 PTS
Chris Dyment - 0 GP
Patrick Traverse - 109 GP, 23 PTS
Christian Laflamme - 54 GP, 5 PTS
Matthieu Descoteaux - 5 GP, 2 PTS
Jiri Cetkovsky - 0 GP
Niklas Sundstrom - 154 GP, 49 PTS

That's 1347 total games on forward/D (primarily from Rucinsky, Weinrich, Thornton and Sundstrom) and 580 points, plus another 319 starts in goal out of Thibault and Hackett.

Just over 11 years later (once Sundstrom returned to Europe) the Canadians have nothing left to show for the deal. Over that time the team made the playoffs six times and won three rounds.

Of course King Patrick would go on to play eight seasons in Colorado, winning two Cups and sixteen playoff rounds.

QOTD: Top 5 Goalies I've Seen

2006-11-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

With King Patrick going into the Hall of Fame tonight, the QOTD is a subjective one. I've been watching hockey for 20 years now and have seen truly tremendous goaltending performances over the years. Of all the positions in pro sports this may be the most difficult position to play and the most relied upon.

An elite goalie can win the game for you before it even starts - I've seen teams so imtimidated by having to face Roy or Brodeur that they get it into their heads that it will take a perfect play to score even once. It's a position that takes supreme confidence and the ability to forget mistakes quickly. Even the best goalies give up bad goals but the great ones can bounce back and shut you down after they do.

That said, here are my top 5:

1. Patrick Roy
2. Martin Brodeur
3. Dominik Hasek
4. Ed Belfour
5. Grant Fuhr

Without a doubt in my mind, Patrick Roy is the greatest goalie I have ever seen. The Canadiens made one of the biggest mistakes in recent memory by trading him days after the incident at the old Forum. I still contend that if they took the time to let things cool down and then tried to smooth things over then they could have found a way to keep Roy in Montreal. Instead they traded him with Keane for Kovalenko, Rucinsky and Thibault.

Hall of Fame Night: Dick Duff

2006-11-13T00:27:00.000-05:00

Monday for Sure..

2006-11-13T00:13:00.000-05:00

So I suffered a bit of an ankle injury today and was offline most of the evening. This week starting Monday AM I will get back on track to posting updated analysis for everything that is going on plus the QOTD (Question of the Day). I'm also going to be writing for hockeybuzz.com in Kevin Gibson's absence so you'll be able to read a lot from me over the next little while.

In the meantime, how about you tell me about about yourselves and what you want to read about on the site plus what you've liked/disliked so far?

Classic Video: Turn out the Lights

2006-11-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday in Review

2006-11-12T22:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars:

1. Brian Boucher
2. Scott Niedermayer
3. Lee Stempniak

Saturday's Three Stars:

1. Chris Mason
2. Tomas Kaberle
3. Daniel Briere

Back Tonight...

2006-11-12T08:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this weekend - I will be back online tonight and will catch up on everything that's gone on...

Friday in Review

2006-11-11T01:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars

1. Miikka Kiprusoff
2. Jason Spezza
3. Michael Nylander

Game Thoughts
* All three Canadian teams picked up wins tonight by three goal margins
* Edmonton had the easiest opponent and the outcome was never really in doubt once the Oilers scored early in the 2nd
* Roloson picked up the win after losing four straight starts
* Lupul has started slowly for the Oilers after coming over in the Pronger deal
* Anson Carter scored just his 2nd goal of the season, giving credence to those who felt his production last year was mostly due to the Sedins
* Bergeron was benched for Edmonton and is definitely in MacTavish's doghouse at the moment
* Ryan Smyth scored for the 4th time in 6 games - it goes without saying but he really is the one who leads, inspires and carries this team
* The Oilers really needed this one as they had lost 6 of 7
* Tonight's game was significant for all the Norwegian fans as Ole-Kristian Tollefson Patrick Thoresen were the first two Norwegians to face each other - somewhere Espen Knutsen is smiling

* It was the Jagr/Nylander show once again for New York with a big game in goal for Lundqvist
* For Atlanta as usual it was Kovalchuk, Hossa and Kozlov leading the charge - the Thrashers don't have a ton of scoring depth so they will need those three players to stay healthy if they are to make a strong run at the playoffs
* After a strong start, Lehtonen has struggled recently
* The Rangers have been road warriors - winning 7 of 9

* The Sens took another lead and didn't give it up this time, winning 6-3
* Ottawa dominated the game tonight, outshooting the Pens 44-17 and winning 64% of the faceoffs
* Redden seems to be back healthy now and this will make a huge difference in both ends
* Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza have been under the microscope so far and they came up big tonight - combining for 7 points, +9 and 19 shots on goal (more than the entire Pens team)
* I think I've mentioned it before but Michel Ouellet is one of the luckiest guys in hockey right now
* The Pens have now lost four in a row and the Sens snap their longest losing streak since 1996

* Detroit continued to play stifiling hockey and dominated a very good (if not great) Preds team, outshooting them 41-20
* Hasek had his second straight shutout while the guy who replaced him in Ottawa continues to struggle
* The Wings probably have the best D in the league right now with Lidstrom, Schneider, Chelios, Kronwall, Markov and Lebda
* Detroit has now won 8 in a row - everytime people start to write them off they prove time and time against that they are still an elite franchise

* Buffalo just keeps finding ways to win no matter who is in the lineup
* Miller was out with an apparent groin injury and the Sabres went down 2-0 but rallied back once again
* Vanek scored twice including the game winner in OT with Roberts in the box. He was also stopped on a penalty shot
* If you have Roberts in your fantasy league you'll be happy to know he picked up 24 minutes in penalties, along with a goal, an assist and a +2
* Biron wasn't great but he did get the win. I'm sure everyone remembers what happened last time Miller was hurt and Biron had to step in..

* Aren't you glad that St. Louis and Chicago get to play 8 times a year?!?
* Vrbata had a pair of PP goals in the first to help the Hawks snap an 8 game losing streak (0-7-1)

* Anaheim finally lost their first game in regulation time
* It took a heroic effort by Kiprusoff to hold off the Ducks as they peppered 19 shots on goal in the third
* That's three games in a row with 2 goals or less against Kiprusoff - seems like he's getting hot after a slow start

Other Thoughts:
There are rumours flying around about Tampa Bay possibly making a deal with a West Coast team. Let's look at the facts:

1) Calgary needs a center to play with Lecavalier
2) The Lightning have too much cap room tied up in three players
3) Lecavalier is playing amazing hockey and his value may never be higher

IF the Lightning want to trade Vinny I can see Colorado, Montreal and New York putting together very competitive offers. If Calgary is involved I would bet that a couple of these guys are being discussed:

Langkow: $2.442 mil
Kobasew: $1.2 mil
Lombardi: $800k
Regehr: $1.875 mil
Warrener $2.35 mil

With so much speculation so early in the season, something is sure to happen soon. And when it does it may set-off a chain reaction of moves throughout the league. Who will make the first move?

Classic Video: Luc Robitaille

2006-11-10T11:46:00.000-05:00

Thursday in Review

2006-11-10T00:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars

1. Erik Cole
2. Patrick Marleau
3. Nik Antropov

Game Thoughts
* Even the return of Petr Nedved couldn't inspire the Flyers. Unbelievable how bad this team is.
* Derian Hatcher played 24:02 and was even on the night
* The Flyers actually played a spirited 3rd period but it was too late by then
* Most people hate him but you have to give Alexei Yashin credit so far - he has continued to play great
* Jason Blake is an underrated offensive threat
* Philly has been outscored 60 to 30 this year
* Forsberg is saying all the right things (now that he's talking) but they need to face the facts that the season is over and it's time to rebuild/retool

* Anaheim set the record for most games to start a year without a regulation loss - they are now 9-0-4
* The Ducks look very very VERY good
* Luongo was pulled after 3 goals on 9 shots
* Patrick Coulombe played his first NHL game and was a -3
* Nathan McIver also played his first NHL game on defence and Alexander Edler was playing game #3. Needless to say that the Canucks were going with a patch-work D.

* Carolina out-shot Washington 39-20 and won 5-0.
* Ward got his first shutout of the year - it was his 4th game under 3 goals in his last 5 starts
* The Canes have been inconsistent but will still be a force in the East due to their offensive depth

* No Mats Sundin = 6 goals for hte Leafs?!?
* Antropov gets the third star for stepping up and playing well - I criticize him enough so he deserves credit for his play
* All four goalies saw action tonight - Thomas was pulled and Raycroft was hurt
* If Boston wants to turn things around before it is too late they need to solve their goaltending problems - soon.
* Before Leaf fans get too excited, remember that you played Boston
* Kubina was back in the Czech Republic as his wife was set to give birth
* Doesn't sound like the Raycroft groin injury is too serious

* Chicago gave up an unlucky goal early and could only score once on Brodeur - which meant another shootout and another shootout win by the Devils
* Still no word on a timeline for Havlat's retrn
* The Devils have given up a total of 9 goals in their last 6 games

* Not much to say about Columbus-St. Louis. One of them had to leave with 2 points and thanks to a weak second period by Legace, it was the Jackets
* It's nice for the Blues that their vets are stepping up but they need to find more offense outside of Guerin and Tkachuk

* Dallas dominated Phoenix, outshooting them 29-7 through two periods and 35-13 overall
* Joseph kept the Coyotes in there, allowing just one goal
* This was Turco's first shutout of the year - he's probably been the best goalie in the league so far
* In 13 starts, Turco has given up more than 2 goals in a game just three times

* San Jose exploded for 7 against LA including 3 by Marleau (on 3 shots) and 2 by Cheechoo
* Garon was in for all seven goals as the Kings continue to struggle against stronger opponents
* The Sharks have been having trouble scoring 5-on-5 but only one of their goals was on the PP
* Patrick Rissmiller doubled his season total with a three point night

Wednesday in Review (and Tuesday)

2006-11-09T01:08:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars

1. Nils Ekman - 3 G (Natural Hattrick)
2. Slava Kozlov - 3 G
3. Martin Straka - 2 G

Tuesday's Three Stars

1. Alexander Frolov - 3 A
2. Tony Amonte - 2 G
3. Mike Cammalleri - 3 A

Game Thoughts
* Lecavalier and St. Louis are playing really great hockey this year. I was really starting to think that St. Louis had become a 30-goal, 30 assist player at best but so far he's proving me very wrong.
* I continue to think that the better these two are playing the better chance that one of them is moved - Montreal, Colorado and New York would be three of the teams that would be lining up for Lecavalier
* Ekman had three goals in 4:10 for the natural hattrick* Martin Gerber was absolutely brutal
* It sounds like the Sens dodged a bullet as Emery likely won't miss too much time
* Hossa-Kozlov-Kovalchuk are as explosive a trio as there is in the league
* Hedberg started his fourth straight and was pulled half-way through the game. Lehtonen came on and didn't allow a goal the rest of the way
* Talks of Conroy to LA have been flying around all day. I bet it will be for prospects/picks as the Sens likely won't move Volchenkov, Meszaros, Eaves, Vermette or Fisher
* Detroit dominated Edmonton, outshooting them 45-18
* The Oilers had NO shots on goal in the first - only the fourth time in franchise history
* Zetterberg continues to play well, scoring for the third straight game
* A scary moment as Jason Williams was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a Raffi Torres hit to the head. Fortunately it sounds like he will be ok and may even be released tonight (Wed)
* Number of shots on goal Hasek has faced this year: 17, 13, 21, 17, 31, 24, 23, 20, 15, 17, 18 - that's 11 starts and over 24 shots just once
* Florida-New York was a good one as the Rangers won in a shootout
* Jagr's shoulder must still be somewhat of an issue as he wasn't chosen as one of New York's three shooters
* Nate Horton is off to a slow start but is still one of my candidates to have a breakthrough year
* At one point Florida took 7 penalties in a row (including a double-minor). They will have to play much more disciplined if that are going to stay in the playoff race.
* Ed Belfour has actually played very well this year since his first two starts

From Tuesday Night...
* two 3-2 shootout wins - by New Jersey and Montreal
* Brodeur was great in OT steal a win for the Devils
* Aebischer continues to play well this year
* Winchester and Latendresse each scored their first NHL (regular season) goals
* LA exploded for six goals and held on to beat Colorado 6-5
* Frolov, Cammalleri and Kopitar combined for 8 points
* Theodore gave up 5 goals and was pulled
* two 3-1 wins by teams who have had trouble scoring - San Jose and Calgary
* Kiprusoff played extremely well - he's been playing better recently
* Andrew Ference and Barnaby had a spirited fight right off the bat that seemed to give the Flames a boost
* Tanguay left with an apparent shoulder injury that they're calling a pinched nerve and not very serious
* Amonte had a two-goal game for the first time since October 10, 2005
* Gaborik is still out for Minnesota with no timeline on his return
* Cheechoo has 5 goals and is a -8 after putting up 56 goals last year

Images from AP

Canadian teams hit by major injuries..

2006-11-08T12:02:00.000-05:00

According to TSN, Mats Sundin will miss 3-4 weeks with a slight ligament tear in his elbow.

The have also reported that Ray Emery suffered a serious wrist inury in practice and may be 'out awhile'.

Also, Tanguay left the game last night with an apparent shoulder injury and as reported yesterday, Chris Higgins will miss 6 weeks with an ankle injury.

I'm not sure whether Tanguay will miss any time but the other three are all huge losses for their respective teams. Sundin is clearly the leader and star of the Leafs. Their scoring depth will really be put to the test while he is gone. Martin Gerber has really struggled in Ottawa and Emery looked like he was going to be the #1 guy. Higgins has been Montreal's best player early in the year.

It will be interesting to see if these injuries trigger any new trade talks. I wouldn't be surprised if Ottawa made a move for a goalie - Garon doesn't make much more than Emery and could be included in the Conroy talks. The Leafs will need help but I doubt a move will be forthcoming. Last year when McCabe went down the team went into a huge slump - how they cope over the next month or so will go a long way toward determining whether they will make the playoffs this year.

Tonight's Games (Nov 8)

2006-11-08T11:44:00.000-05:00

Ottawa at Atlanta - 7 pm
NY Rangers at Florida - 7:30 pm
Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh - 7:30 pm
Edmonton at Detroit - 8 pm

Four good early games tonight but no late games unfortunately:

The Sens REALLY need a win against a very tough Atlanta team
Rangers and Florida are both hovering around .500
Tampa and Pittsburgh both have stars who can lite it up
Detroit will try to slow down a speedy Edmonton team

More to come a little later...
Last night's three stars and game thoughts will be included in tonight's summary

Classic Video: Habs & Nordiques Brawl

2006-11-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Games (Nov 7)

2006-11-07T13:41:00.000-05:00

Carolina at New Jersey 7:00 PM
Edmonton at Montreal 7:30 PM
Los Angeles at Colorado 9:30 PM
Dallas at Calgary 10:00 PM
Minnesota at San Jose 10:30 PM

Five on the schedule tonight and they are all good matchups. Also, the timing is spaced out nicely for those who have Center Ice (when it works) and like flipping around to catch the end of the games..

* Bad news out of Montreal as Chris Higgins will miss at least 6 weeks with a partially torn ligament in his ankle
* Also out of Philly where Jeff Carter will also miss 6 weeks due to a broken ankle

Hey Mr. Paul Holmgren...

2006-11-07T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here's one final song for the day. While I don't believe Forsberg will be moved at these meetings I think many teams will be kicking the tires and floating ideas out that will be revisited in a month or two. The more time that goes on there will be more suitors for Forsberg as teams will not need as much free cap room to make a deal. Unless he really wants to stick around in Philly beyond this year, it is almost a certainty that Forsberg will move before the deadline (although I'm sure a deal won't be strongly considered until they have a full-time GM in place).

Hey Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
I've got many prospects and first round draft picks too
Hey! Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
If you put him on the block then I'll keep callin' you.

Though I know you're only interim and not in the job for long
Team losing all the time
Boss left you blindly there to stand but still not permanent
Your slumping team amazes me they have no one to score
I have a goalie for you
And I'll even take Hatcher and his minus seventeen.

Hey Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
I've got many prospects and first round draft picks too
Hey! Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
If you put him on the block then I'll keep callin' you.

Take my slumping players that I know will turn around
My team just needs a boost, my centers not so sound
My wingers gripping sticks, wait for passes that never come
To be so frustrated
I'm ready to trade anyone, I need to make the playoffs
To save my own hide, take a look at my prospect list and pick
I promise to go for it and make you a hero.

Hey Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
I've got many prospects and first round draft picks too
Hey! Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
If you put him on the block then I'll keep callin' you.

Though you might hear cryin', screamin', swearing madly at my team
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just the fans havin' fun
And for the losing soon will end and we'll be winning
And if you trade me Forsberg it would be a real big help
To my team's big turnaround, it's just a matter of time
I would pay him any amount, he's the the center that we need
To be successful

Hey Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
I've got many prospects and first round draft picks too
Hey! Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
If you put him on the block then I'll keep callin' you.

Take my first round draft pick and my second rounder too,
I'll put a package that's a great, far better then Muckler and Brian Burke
The men will try to rip you off, out to take your player
But not to help you rebuild
Yes let's talk until we get it done and save both of our jobs
The fans will love you most and you may even become a full-time GM
With the memory of losing and Peter's salary off your books
Let you forget about this losing until tomorrow.

Hey Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
I've got many prospects and first round draft picks too
Hey! Mr. Paul Holmgren, trade Peter Forsberg to me,
If you put him on the block then I'll keep callin' you.

The times they are a-changin'..

2006-11-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

In honor of the the GM Meetings in Toronto as well as the Bob Dylan/Foo Fighters concert at the ACC, I put together a little song for your enjoyment...

Come gather 'round GMs
Wherever you roam
And admit your team's struggling
You're definitely not alone
And accept it that soon
You'll be working the phone
If your team to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start trading
Or your fans will all groan
For the times they are a-changin'

Come Sutter and Muckler
Who had eyes on the Cup
And keep your star players
Now's not the time to give up
But make moves soon
So your teams can begin
And there's no tellin' who
Will be traded
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come Holmgren and Barnett
Please take the call
Don't make a poor move
Or you will take the fall
But it may be time to move Forsberg
And Shane Doan y'all
There's a battle off the ice
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your arenas
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'

Come players and coaches
Throughout the land
And don't fear your jobs
What you can't understand
Your wins and your losses
Are beyond your command
Your veterans are
Rapidly agin'.
Your teams need some scoring
Someone to lend a hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The season is long
The standings change fast
The low one now
Will later have passed
And the high one now
May later be last
And a trade is
Urgently needed
And the worst ones now
Can turn things around
For the times they are a-changin'.

The GMs are coming...

2006-11-07T01:40:00.000-05:00

The General Managers' meeting will take place today at a Toronto Airport Hotel. Among the topics that may be discussed are:

* Scheduling
* Hits to the head
* Low hits
* Guaranteed contracts for GMs

And even more interesting for fans are some of the names that may be discussed:
* Peter Forsberg
* Daniel Alfredsson
* Craig Conroy
* Jarome Iginla
* Shane Doan
* Simon Gagne
* Vincent Lecavalier
* Martin St. Louis
* Evgeni Nabokov
* Ilya Bryzgalov
* Peter Prucha
* Brendan Morrison
* Jozef Stumpel
* Eric Brewer

Keep in mind that it's only early November, so some of these names may come up in discussions but nothing substantial may happen until much later in the year. Of course not all these players will move this year and some of them (especially Iginla and Alfredsson) I doubt are even on the block.

Monday in Review

2006-11-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Three Stars

1. Ilya Kovalchuk - 3 G, 1 A, 9 SOG, 21:30 TOI
2. Alexander Ovechkin - 2 G, 8 SOG, 21:48 TOI
3. Marian Hossa - 1 G, 2 A, +1, 6 SOG

Game Thoughts
Thanks to transmission problems with the cable company who shall remain nameless (unless this happens again) the only game I was able to watch tonight was Toronto-Philly. I felt so helpless knowing that there were games on (very good ones like Pittsburgh-Anaheim and Dallas-Vancouver) that I just couldn't watch. Ok so it wasn't that bad but after going out on Saturday night and then just the one game on Sunday, I was looking forward to relaxing and watching some great hockey.

Instead I got Toronto-Philly, which meant I had to rely on highlights and reading to get much of my game thoughts tonite.

* Philly is no longer off to a horrible start. They are a horrible team and it's time for them to make some moves
* Just an idea but maybe those moves should start with the guy who is now -17
* Nittymaki gave up a few weak ones tonight and looked shaky. The Leafs hit quite a few posts too..
* Leafs had a huge breakdown to allow the Philly goal - luckily nobody in the Platinum section saw it because it was early in the period
* Antropov scored! Antropov scored!
* Flyers are 3-10-1.
* Raycroft is on again. Soon he will be off again
* I heard Raycroft had a little meltdown in the postgame interview. Didn't catch the interview but one of my loyal readers informed me that Raycroft was not so impressed with Paul Hendrick. Apparently in the interview after the three stars ceremony (in front of the entire ACC) Hendrick started his second question with "8 wins matches your total of last year..." and Raycroft said "thanks for bringing that up again" and he walked away.
* This is Philly's worst start in their 40-year history* The Sens looked very good and then very bad
* Beautiful pass by Spezza to setup the first goal
* Vermette has great wheels
* Sens looked like they were pouring it on - 3 goals on 5 shots, then Kolzig was yanked
* Ovechkin tied it up late on a very strange goal
* Gerber took the loss and was not happy at all. Somehow I think the Sens are not so happy with him either
* Semin had three assists after being demoted to the 4th line last game
* Volchenkov played great - I have a hard time believing that Muckler would move either Volchenkov or Meszaros* Mike Smith got the start and looked like Felix Potvin early, letting in a long-one from center ice
* Vancouver's Alexander Edler picked up his first NHL point
* Lindros scored again and continued his nearly PPG pace
* Smith made a huge save off Josh Green on a breakaway
* Pyatt scored late on the PP to take two points for the Canucks * Malkin's early turnover helped Anaheim score
* Chris Thorburn had his first NHL goal
* Ducks outplayed the Pens, outshooting them 40-17
* Selanne scored in OT on the PP with Noah Welch sitting in the box
* Another win for the Ducks and their 15th straight without a regulation loss * Atlanta is lethal on the PP, led by Kovalchuk who had a hat trick
* Probably not a great idea to give them 13 power play attempts
* Hedberg started his third straight and won against - poor Tim Thomas faced 15 shots by Kovalchuk and Hossa combined
* Hossa scored a beautiful goal and set up two
* Boyes and Bergeron each had two points - they're off to pretty slow starts so maybe this will give them a boost
* Despite all the big off-season moves the Bruins are only three points ahead of Philadelphia for last in the Conference* Dunham and Homqvist got the start in New York
* St. Louis and Lecavalier each now have 9 game point streaks
* Kuba scored a pair (his first two of the year) and Prospal had two points
* Childhood friends and College teammates St. Louis and Perrin combined for a goal for the first time in the NHL
Photos from AP/Getty Images

Stuck Watching Philly

2006-11-06T19:53:00.000-05:00

It's 7:47 and my NHL Center Ice is not working for some reason. That means I'm stuck watching Toronto-Philly on Sportsnet for now.

1-0 Toronto as Battaglia scores on a brutal goal. Niittymaki has to stop that.. he was down WAY too early. He also let a weak shot through his legs moments earlier but somehow the shot trickled just wide of the post.

I've said it before - Philly has too many holes up front, on defence and in goal to make any kind of run at the playoffs.

Philly is 0-8-1 when they allow the first goal..