NEXT YEAR IN ZION
As of tonight the playoffs are pretty much set (with the seven and eight spots in the West coming down to the final two games). Some teams deserved a spot but couldn’t find one, some teams couldn’t fight through the rough patches, and some teams apparently were brought into the league from the ECHL without any of our knowledge. The year is over for 14 teams, but that doesn’t mean those teams should be out of our minds. Let’s see what non-playoff teams have in store for the off-season leading into next season.
NY Islanders:
The Islanders are a team mired in mediocrity. It’s sad that a team that dominated the late seventies/early eighties is now the laughing stock of the league. What with a 15 year contract for DiPietro (how’s that going Mr. Wang?), along with years of teams consisting of youngsters without mentors, there’s not much to look forward to. If GM Garth Snow is smart he’ll forego the siren song of Tavares and go for big defensemen Hedman who they need more. With Kyle Okposo, Bill Guerin, and Mark Streit leading the scoring department, Richard Park leading the heart department, and Viktor Hedman leading the defense they sure to finish better then last next year.
Tampa Bay:
They had a hickup this year. This team is much better then it’s record. What they really need is defense. They may be better off trading their early pick for a load of big NHL ready defensemen. If they can shore up their back end then they’ll be back in the playoffs next year.
Colorado:
Everything in Colorado depends on what Sakic decides to do this off-season. It’s my belief that he wants one more full year and won’t let this year be his last. Still, a year lost to injury could convince an older player that it’s time to hang ‘em up. Even with Sakic back, there’s not much Colorado can do to make it back to the post-season next year, unless there’s a cave in the Rockies where a goalie and a defense is hiding.
Atlanta:
Like Colorado, there’s not much they can do in Atlanta to make it to the post-season next year. This is a team that requires a couple of years of building before it gets back into the playoffs. It all starts at the draft where they need to be smart, not popular. They need a Rick Nash or Shea Webber like player, not another Kovalchyuk.
Los Angeles:
This team is so good. Too bad there are at least seven teams in the West who will still be better next year, so it will still be a battle for them to make it into the playoffs. Still, you gotta think they’ll fight for Anaheim for that spot all year with Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, and Jonathan Quick.
Phoenix:
Like LA, Phoenix is a very good team. They have a very strong defense, they’ll have an older Kyle Turris, and hopefully they’ll still have Shane Doan. I’m not sure what happened to Bryzgalov this year, but he could get it back next year. I think they’ll be fighting for the eighth spot.
Toronto:
It’s another rebuilding year in TO. Unfortunately they have nothing to build with., especially since they traded almost all of their tradeable players before the deadline this year and really only managed to replace their second round pick. We’ll see if Brian Burke can prove he didn’t just inherit a champion team in Anaheim.
Dallas:
Things are looking old in Dallas. They need to get young and they need to get young fast. I expect them to be amongst the busiest traders come draft day. Will Modano stay another year? Will Turco flop again next year? They’ll need to improve a lot to make it back to the post-season, I expect a couple of years of rebuilding.
Ottawa:
Ottawa is a weird one cause they can score a metric butt-load of goals, but somehow they couldn’t score more then the opposition. They need goaltending and a puck moving defensemen. They can probably get both through trades alone. With those two things in place they should be able to squeeze into one of the bottom three spots in the East.
Edmonton:
For years now Edmonton has been the whipping boy of the Northwest Division, and that’s not likely to change. Their number one goaltender ends this season at 39 years of age, their young players aren’t playing well enough, and their defense is error prone. What they really need in the off-season is a Michael Peca-type leader, the kind you used to have in Ryan Smyth. If they can address that need (instead of trying to poach some untested RFA again) then they have a good chance to improve in the standings.
Minnesota:
One of the teams that may still make it into the post-season, Minny doesn’t stand a chance. In the off-season they will lose their most gifted offensive talent in Marian Gaborik, not that he ever could reach his potential because of injuries. That leaves them with talented, but not nearly talented enough Mikko Koivu. The Wild do not have the firepower to get back into the post-season, nor will they be able to find it in one off-season. I see in their future, the NY Islanders.
Buffalo:
They really shouldn’t be on this list, but they are going to be playing golf this Spring instead of hockey so here they are. All they need is a full season from Tomas Vanek and Ryan Miller and they are good to go.
Florida:
Like Buffalo, they didn’t necessarily belong on this list. They will, however, next season if they can’t replace Jeremy Bouwmeester. This was their year and they just couldn’t pull it off. They’re going to need to get some tough defenders and some flashy forwards in the off-season.
There will be one more team to miss the playoffs, but at this point there are three tied at 88. Each of those teams has what it takes, for the most part, to make it. And all of those teams, for the most part, are primed to improve next season. Nashville found a great starting goaltender in Pekka Rinne. St Louis has an incredibly potent offense. And Anaheim… well if Niedermayer doesn’t retire and they keep Pronger there’s no reason to doubt they won’t be right back in the thick of things come 2010. The biggest question is who is in this year that will get left behind next year. Look out Montreal, at the end of the season all but ten of your contracts run out, and you barely squeezed in this year.
LOOKING BACKWARDS
This weekend a illness floored your friendly neighborhood Yankee Hockey. It wasn’t too bad to keep me from watching the games, but my brains ability to function has been severely hampered. So today is going to be an easy one, I’m going to take a look at my early season predictions and see just how well I did (cause there is nothing like patting yourself on the back). With the season not exactly finished, some of the results may change, but I think I got it covered.
Western Conference
(preseason):
1. Detroit
2. San Jose
3. Calgary
4. Anaheim
5. Vancouver
6. St. Louis
7. Chicago
8. Edmonton
9. Los Angeles
10. Dallas
11. Columbus
12. Minnesota
13. Phoenix
14. Colorado
15. Nashville
(actual)
1. San Jose
2. Detroit
This particular battle has been going on all season long with Detroit and San Jose jockeying for position. I’m going to call this a win because, really, they’re like 1A/1B.
3. Calgary
This looks like it’s gonna stick, even though Vancouver made it super interesting (including beating them 4-1 last night to remain in the running for the third spot), but with two games left Calgary would have to lose more then Vancouver won and I’m not sure they will blow their last two games.
4. Chicago
I underestimated the goaltenders here. I knew the team was good, but I didn’t think Christobel Huet would play as good as he has, and I certainly never believed Khabibulin would return to form. They even threatened Detroit for a moment before falling back to earth.
5. Vancouver
Spot on!
6. Columbus
Good for Columbus. I’m glad they proved me wrong here. They can thank Steve Mason for that one, I think if they had stuck with Denis they may not have made it.
7. Anaheim
I’m actually a little surprised they’re even this high up after the season they have had. I guess when you have two Niedermayers, a Pronger, and a Selanne you can kind of tip-toe your way into the playoffs.
8. St Louis
Well, I was wrong about their position, and the play of Manny Legace, but I was right about their powerful offense.
9. Nashville
Look, I’d never heard of Pekka Rinne. Give me a break please.
10. Minnesota
You heard it here first folks. I’m the one who jumped off the Minnesota bandwagon this year while others put them as high as third in the conference. Of course Gaborik is going to get hurt, of course they aren’t going to score goals, so of course they are outta here!
11. Edmonton
Edmonton almost proved me right as the season wore down, but then they had to go and self destruct as they always do. They’re like the Mets of the NHL.
12. Dallas
You heard it here first again! Some “experts” even picked Dallas to win the cup this year. Thanks in part to Sean Avery, and in second part to Turco’s off year, Dallas will be playing golf this Spring.
13. Los Angeles
I really thought LA would be fighting for a spot at this time of the season. Still, they showed a lot of spunk and I look forward to putting them at number nine again next year. (Actually, this Jonathan Quick guy may move them up to eight).
14. Phoenix
15. Colorado
Phoenix almost made things interesting just after the All-Star break, but returned spiritual balance to the NHL again by falling down the standings like a comet. Colorado probably would have done much better had Stastny and Sakic not been out almost the entire year, but Budaij would have made sure they weren’t higher then 11 I’m sure.
All in all i’m rather proud of myself. Got about 30% right on, and the rest (except for a couple) were pretty close. What more could you expect from preseason predictions…. ok, expect for preseason predictions that are not paid for by a sports organization. Get off my back.
Eastern Conference
(preseason):
1. Pittsburgh
2. Montreal
3. Washington
4. NY Rangers
5. New Jersey
6. Ottawa
7. Philadelphia
8. Carolina
9. Boston
10. Tampa Bay
11. Buffalo
12. Florida
13. Toronto
14. NY Islanders
15. Atlanta
(actual)
1. Boston
Way to go Boston. Man I screwed up the East so bad.
2. Washington
I was close! You gotta give me this one at least.
3. New Jersey
I don’t know why I ever doubted New Jersey. Even with Brodeur out most of the season they still kicked everyone’s butt. Actually… now that I think about it, it was after Brodeur went down that the butt-kicking really began.
4. Philadelphia
A very well played season from Philly. They really won me over with their defensive work this year.
5. Carolina
Well, I knew they’d make it to the post season at least. Man they’ve been hot lately.
6. Pittsburgh
Damnit Pittsburgh! If you won’t be kind enough to win the conference like I thought you would, at least be decent enough to miss the playoffs. I hate these guys.
7. Montreal
So what was last year? Some kind of tease? I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys were out of the playoffs by the end of the week.
8. NY Rangers
How is it that two of my top five are struggling to even make the playoffs. The Rangers, especially backstopped by Lundqvist are just too good to be barely holding on to eighth spot.
9. Florida
I knew Florida was going to be better then people expected… but this good? They deserve a playoff spot, if only to justify not trading Bouwmeester.
10. Buffalo
Losing Miller really hurt. They were better then their record presents. Next year boys, nest year.
11. Ottawa
You know, it’s teams like Ottawa that screwed up my predictions this year. They’re getting an angry letter.
12. Toronto
One off, dang! Well, with Burke as their GM they’ll be back here again next year.
13. Atlanta
Atlanta really benefited from the absolutely horrible play of Tampa Bay and the Islanders. Otherwise they’d be right where I put them.
14. Tampa Bay
See what happens when you fire Barry Melrose?
15. NY Islanders
They’re only here cause they are desperate for Tavares.
So my Eastern Conference predictions were a little of, but hey, my Western Conference predictions were pretty good right? It’s nice to get a little West Coast bias for once.
Come back because in the coming weeks we’ll have a ton of playoff discussion, including who I think will win it all.
DEADLINE SPECIAL
Welcome to the Yankee Hockey Trade Deadline Special! It was, as I expected, a not so crazy day where only a few teams managed to get everything on their shopping list, and many teams moved horizontally rather then vertically. So let’s get to it.
The Big Winners:
Calgary: The Flames are the big winners not because of their biggest trade, Olli Jokinen for Lombardi, Prust, and a 1st, but because of the trade they made earlier for Jordan Leopold for two fringe defensemen and a 2nd round pick. Calgary’s offense didn’t need any sort of boost. Sure, Jokinen’s big body is helpful, just hardly necessary. Their one weakness this year (other then Kipprusoff being sketchy at times) has been a shaky defense. Leopold is a great defenseman with a high offensive upside, he immediately makes Calgary tougher to play against. Jokinen is a good player, but he doesn’t make Calgary intimidating like Leopold does.
Phoenix: So they lost Jokinen, so what? He was hardly a force to be reckoned with in the desert anyway. What they did do was get a first, second, and fourth round pick, a bunch of good forwards in Scottie Upshall, Peter Prucha, Brandon Prust, Matthew Lombardi, and Nigel Dawes, as well as a decent defenseman in Dmitri Kalinin. They may be out of the playoff race this year, but next year they will be retooled and better then ever.
Boston Bruins: Mark Recchi was a pretty good pick up. He’ll help them more in the post season then he will now, but they didn’t give up much for him and somehow managed to get a second round pick in 2010 to boot. The addition that makes them big winners is getting Steve Montador in exchange for the currently injured Petteri Nokelainen, who isn’t even that good when he’s not injured. Montador is a great defensemen and immediately makes the toughest team in the East even tough. With Recchi and Montador on their squad they should go very deep into the playoffs.
Columbus Blue Jackets: They got rid of a goaltender they didn’t need, and in return got an experienced center they desperately need. This is a young team with almost not playoff experience, adding Antoinne Vermette, who went to the Stanley Cup finals two seasons ago, immediately makes this team a dark horse pick in the post-season.
Moving Sideways:
New York Rangers: Sure they got Derek Morris and Nik Antropov, and those two should shore up a bit of the holes in the Rangers’ ship, but what they really needed was a scoring winger. Antropov is both big and talented, but he’s a center who isn’t very good on the wing. They can’t put him with Gomez, and that’s really where they needed to add a player. Not only that they gave up young and talented Peter Prucha for Morris and that may end up hurting them in seasons to come.
Philadelphia Flyers: Already a scrappy team, I’m not sure why the Flyers felt they needed to pick up gritty players like Jeff Carcillo and Kyle McLaren. With the most assets of any team in the league available for a big trade the Flyers fell surprisingly flat. Well, they didn’t need much, they didn’t get much, they are the definition of moving sideways.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Sorry if I don’t think that addition of Bill Guerin for next to nothing is a winning move. The Penguins needed someone to add some life into their line-up. Guerin will add some goals, but he definitely won’t add any inspiration. What they have right now is Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cooke trying to breathe some life into this team, and that’s just not enough. Rumour was they were looking to bring back Jarkko Ruutu, and that would have helped big time. Guerin just won’t put them over the top of anything.
San Jose Sharks: Here was a team that didn’t need to make any trade at all, and then they went and made two. They got rid of Kyle McLaren who is a good every day defensemen, and then picked up a poor replacement in Kent Huskins. And where exactly do they expect Travis Moen to play?
Anaheim Ducks: I really probably could have put them into the losing category because they didn’t pick up anything good, unless your idea of good is untested prospects. But they didn’t lose anything good either. Maybe… maybe Travis Moen, but he’s only pretty good. Now, they very well could have traded Pronger or Niedermayer and gotten a pretty penny back. That they didn’t means they must believe they can make it to at least the second round this year, but because they will probably be facing either the Sharks or the Wings if they do make it, I highly doubt that.
Big Losers:
Toronto Maple Leafs: They got rid of everything and got almost nothing in return. I know that Brian Burke loves picks, but he hasn’t often shown an ability to use them well. Vancouver still suffers from his drafting years, in Anaheim he benefited from the previous GM’s picks. If he thinks that Toronto fans will be patient as he tries to rebuild this team entirely from scratch he hasn’t been paying attention. Further, the two goaltenders they got, Olaf Kolzig and Martin Gerber, haven’t done anything to merit a starting job in a few years. What’s the plan there?
Florida Panthers: I appreciate that they want to keep Bouwmeester around for the playoffs. Getting to the post-season is a super big deal in Florida this year. I think they’re getting in with or without the guy, and they would have certainly gotten both players and picks for him. I’m sure they could have convinced either Philly or Vancouver who were both rumoured to be frothing at the bit for him to give up one of their roster defensemen in return. Bouwmeester is not going to mean the difference between the first and second round for Florida, they will be beat early on and then they will lose him in the off-season
Vancouver Canucks: So you see your divisional rival Calgary Flames make two excellent deals and you can’t do anything? Not a god damn thing? Look, I completely understand that if there are no good deals to make then you don’t make a deal, but you need a center and the Rangers pick up Nik Antropov for a second round pick. At this point GM Mike Gillis better re-sign the Sedin twins and Mattias Ohlund quick before fans start to think he is incapable of any action whatsoever.
Chicago Blackhawks: If this team wants to be considered one of the elite of the league then they needed to make a move. What move did they make? Sami Pahlsson? Really guys? Is that the best you can do? They have two starting goaltenders eating away at their cap space and they couldn’t rid themselves of either of them? This will come back to haunt them in the post-season.
Trading Day Oddities:
Dallas Stars pick up Brendan Morrison on the waiver wire: This is an oddity because Brendan Morrison is a Stars killer! He scored an awesome overtime goal a couple years ago against Turco in the playoffs that really killed the Stars. But, I guess keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.
Three-way deal of nothing: The Kings, ‘Canes, and Oilers made what the most frustrating deal of the day with O’Sullivan going to the Oil, Cole going to the ‘Canes, and Williams going to LA. All three players aren’t exactly having banner years, emphasis on Williams and Cole there. O’Sullivan is the best of the bunch, and he’s going to the team least likely to make the playoffs. What an excercise in futility this trade was.
EVERYTHING IS GOING AS PLANNED
As the media has been reporting since last year, Brian Burke has finally signed a six year contract to become the new Leaf’s GM Thursday. Actually, I’m a little surprised, six years is a helluva long time to be the GM of one team, especially seeing as how his teams inevitably begin to tank two or three years after he arrives. But, in the long history of Maple Leafs missteps this one is can be classified as only mild and amusing, not entirely stupid or panic-inducing.
What can this mean for Toronto? Well, first off it means we’re likely to see Mats Sundin return to the fold. Make no mistake, Burke can claim his meetings with Sundin were innocent until the blue of his face matches the Leafs’ sweater, but the entire league knows what was going on behind closed doors. The only team that will be unhappy about this, though, is Vancouver, and they won’t be very unhappy. Somewhat annoyed is a more apt description. But they can take all that money they were going to offer him and get Mattias Ohlund under contract, which is much better for that team anyway.
It also means that Toronto is going to lose any young player they have in their system that can score goals. Burkie hates goal scoring prospects if his time in Vancouver and Anaheim are any indication. He’d much rather have young boxing types who are more likely to take a boarding penalty then get an assist. He enjoys trading them away for late draft picks and washed-up defensemen. Only then, in the upcoming draft, he’ll pick an undersized speedster in the first round who will forever be just on the verge of making the big show, but end up becoming a career minor leaguer.
And of course let’s not forget Burke’s love of conflict. It won’t take long for some personality in the team or media to get on his case and a war of words will ensue. Actually, if it’s a member of the team they better hope it’s just a war of words, Burke has been known to drive players to the airport himself to send them on their way to any other team he can find to take them. Just ask RJ Umber what it’s like to disagree with Big BB.
In the end it may actually mean a small improvement in Toronto. Burke’s love of hard hitting play actually ends up working for about a season. Toronto will become a harder team to play against, even if they aren’t exactly a better team. There’s no way he lasts six years. When he took over Anaheim he already had a skilled team in place and simply added some muscle to make them tougher. In Vancouver he had a very skilled team and on;ly managed to make them worse by giving up young talented players and drafting like he was stoned. In Toronto he has neither a good team, nor an entirely impressive group of prospects. Toronto is a basement team that needs intelligence and patience in management, and while Burke is certainly a smart man, he’s never been patient. Add to that his tendency to make stupid decisions based on his impatience and you’re looking at three years at the most.
What scares me is that he is short listed to build the US team for the 2010 Olympics. If there is one thing that never works in international hockey, it’s a smash mouth approach. I hope he is capable of collecting a group of skilled forwards and defensemen who can play with finesse, not just knock someone through the glass. Not only that, but I hope his love of veterans doesn’t lead him to fill the roster with old worn out hockey coots. There is a lot of young American talent in the league right now, and to pass that up would be a horrible thing.
Well, I’m full of turkey and stuffing (mostly stuffing), so I’ll leave it at that for this week. Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, and I’ll see you all on Monday.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK:
The surprise this week is that we’ve already made it to the quarter mark of the season. Man it seems like hockey just started a couple weeks ago, and already we’re at 20 games. At this rate it will be over too soon too. There have been a lot of good stories out of this first quarter, a couple disappointing ones too. But that’s hockey for you. All in all it’s looking like it’s going to be a good season with some absolutely stellar teams that will stay on top, and a lot of very good, very hungry teams battling it out for those last playoff spots. I’d have to say that at the quarter mark the two biggest surprises are Boston and Dallas. I made the mistake of putting Boston out of the playoffs this year in my predictions. I also thought that Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez would be sharing goaltender duties. Way to show me what’s what Thomas. As for Dallas, I did correctly predict them out of the playoff picture, but I thought for sure they’d at least be competitive this year. Believe me, I would have loved to have put them farther down in my predictions, but it just never occurred to me.
WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOING ON
Let’s see, what’s happened since the last post I wrote. Ok, we got five jerseys unveiled, two numbers retired, two devastating injuries, and a partridge in a pear tree. God, where to begin? Frankly, I don’t want to start anywhere because all of these occurrences just make me mad. The jerseys are horrible, one of the retired numbers doesn’t make any sense, and the injuries could cause their teams all kinds of troubles this season (for Dallas losing Morrow it could mean the deepest part of the sewer, for Vancouver and Luongo it may mean missing the post season). But, I am a hockey writer, and as a hockey writer I must remove my own misgivings to properly cover the news of the game, so let’s get on with it. Because of the length of today’s entry there will be no questions at the end.
IF INGESTED, USE THIRD JERSEY TO INDUCE VOMITTING:
In the weekend of weekends for third jersey fans five new jerseys were introduced. The Sharks started things off with their new horrorshow of a sweater. It even has a name: BlackArmor. That loud banging sound you hear combined with a throbbing pain in your forehead is you hitting your head against your desk. Don’t be alarmed, it’s a reflex like sneezing, yawning, or laughing at people who buy this jersey. I’ve never thought San Jose had a particularly good jersey scheme, but it has seemed to work if their continued use of teal is any indication. But this is so very lame. Not Dallas Stars lame, but pretty sad for a such a great hockey market. I mean, is black a theme or something? And giving it a name? Ugh. The logo itself looks too much like an AHL or ECHL logo for my tastes. Well San Jose, you didn’t do any worse then anyone else this year.
After the Sharks it was the Ottawa Senators’ turn to show how not to spend money. Also, is it just me or does Dany Heatley trying to look intimidating just look silly. The guy is a great hockey player, but he still looks like he’s eighteen. Wow, it’s black, and it says “SENS”… incredible. It must have taken a six year old four minutes with a crayon to work that one out. And what’s in this “Back in Black” campaign? I realize that the Senators have had black in their jerseys forever, but I thought the main color was always red. Am I wrong about this? Did they have a period of time when they wore primarily black? Whatever the case, I hates it.
Then the Coyotes came out and said “We want to do something different.” And something different they did. I’d like to take a moment to thank the Coyotes for doing something that’s been sorely missing from this alternate jersey season: create something entirely new. Oh, it’s plenty ugly, but it has a new main logo, new shoulder logo, and “Coyotes” script mark on the pants. I don’t know what’s up with all the black, I actually really like the Coyotes’ red. I lived in Phoenix for a time and I could say with confidence that the earthen red they wear suits the city. Overall the jersey is totally unremarkable though. The main logo is way to small, the little red sleeve forearms look pathetic, and seriously what’s with the black?
Then it was time for the Kings to do something completely different. They said “We want to stand out from the crowd, be unique.” And so they went with black… Ok, maybe they did what everyone else did but they must have had a unique slogan…. right? Seriously… did all these teams hire the same damn people? I mean, is black the new black or something? Are they planning on rescuing some hockey players captured by the Vietcong in a daring midnight raid? The new logo is decent I guess, it’s more of a mish-mash of previous logos then something totally unique but it looks fine. I just swear, if I see one more black jersey I’m gonna punch Gary Bettman.
So then, on Sunday Tampa Bay ended the parade (well, not really, since the Bruins will be unveiling theirs later today). And all I can say about it is I LOVE IT! Sure, there’s a little black on the sleeves but look at all that blue! And if I’m not mistaken there’s a little bit of silver in there too. And white. Who cares if it’s the most boring piece of crap I’ve seen since Manos: The Hands of Fate, the colors make me feel so alive.
Alright, I’m done with that charade, it sucks, they all sucked, looking at them just makes me mad. So let’s move on to something more positive.
IF YOU DIDN’T REVEAL A THIRD JERSEY, RAISE YOUR BANNER:
On Sunday the Maple Leafs raised the number of former captain and home town favorite Wendell Clark. Cap’n Crunch’s number 17 went up into the rafters in Toronto to take it’s place amongst some of the games greats. He got the name Cap’n Crunch because of his brutal hits, as well as his awesome ‘stache. He was a scrapper, a body checker, and a bruiser. He could score some goals too, over 40 in ’93, but his role was the adrenalin gland of the Leafs. This number retirement is exactly what the whole concept was meant to represent. Clark is no hall of famer, he wasn’t the best player in his era. Hell, he wasn’t even the best player on his team. It wasn’t his point totals that retired his number, it was the love from his city, and his love back. This leaves Maple Leaf nation with a good feeling, they love Clark there, and have even after he left for other teams. That his number joins Ace Bailey’s is an honor well deserved.
In a more questionable retired Saturday, Montreal retired Patrick Roy’s number 33. We all should know enough about Patrick Roy to understand why they might do this, but for those new to the sport, let me give a brief history. Roy came into Montreal as a rookie and won the Stanley Cup right off. He won a bunch more games for them including another Stanley Cup (the last they have won). And then it all fell apart in one game. After letting in 9 goals in a period and a half Roy was finally pulled from the game. Feeling like his coach left him in just to humiliate him (they didn’t have a good relationship) Roy demanded and trade and never went in goal for the Canadiens again. He was traded to the Avalanche where he won two more Stanley Cups, became the winningest goaltender in NHL history, and uttered one of the best sports quotes of all time.
I can understand why anyone would want to retire Roy’s number. Colorado already has. The thing is… they hated Roy in Montreal for demanding that trade. After that trade the Canadiens had no success in the post season at all, if they even got there. It’s great that they are able to forgive, but you shouldn’t forget. A guy should go from arch-nemesis to in the rafters just cause his numbers are huge. Granted, he did a lot for that team while he was there, but he spit in their faces and stormed out. There’s no going back from that, or at least, there shouldn’t be. But, I guess love is blind and Patrick Roy is a French-Canadian hero. Just look at all the goaltender’s he’s inspired; Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Roberto Luongo, Jose Theodore. Ok, I’ll let this pass this one time, but don’t be doing anything like it again Montreal!
ALWAYS STRETCH BEFORE EXERCISING:
Ok, I’ll be brief. Brendan Morrow and Roberto Luongo both left games on Saturday with injuries. Morrow’s requires surgery and he is done for the year. Luongo’s is still undetermined, he will be having an MRI on Monday, but walked unaided to a press conference after the game so it doesn’t look too bad. Of the two Morrow’s is by far the most damaging to his team, and not just because it’s for the entire year. Dallas needs leadership and scoring, and Morrow brings them both. Without him they will be completely disheveled, like the Lost Boys without Peter Pan. The Canucks will miss Luongo, he’s one of the best goaltender’s in the league. But in his place Curtis Sanford won his second game in a row, and the Canucks have an amazing prospect by the name of Cory Schneider who not only rocked the pre-season, but is making complete fools out of AHL shooters posting a record of 10-1 with a .945 SAV% and a 1.37 GAA. Frankly, I’d really like to see what the kid can do in the big show, and I think Canucks’ fans will too as soon as they stop hyperventilating.
JERSEYS EVERYWHERE!
So I was browsing the internet recently when I suddenly realized I had made a horrible oversight on Yankee Hockey. In my haste to cover every third jersey release this season I didn’t recall that a number of teams had already released their third jerseys either in the off-season or early in the season before I had started writing. In the interest of full coverage today’s entry will finally give those jerseys their due, albeit more brief then I’m sure fans of those teams would like. So let’s get started with the:
Buffalo Sabres: If you read my report on the new Penguins sweater then you know I love shield logos on hockey jerseys. This jersey is so awesome it’s near perfect. The buffalo over two sabres is so very much better then the buffaslug they’ve been wearing for the last little while. It’s the exact kind of logo you’d expect from a team that wants to be taken seriously, for a team with smart hockey fans, for the Buffalo Sabres. The colors are great too, dark blue mixed with a deep yellow. None of this bright color garbage that so many teams have these days. Ok, so the Sharks and Canucks look pretty good in non-traditional colors, but that’s the West Coast, in the East you gotta look more dabber then that. Good for Buffalo for taking a step in the right direction.
Carolina Hurricanes: It might surprise you to learn that I actually like this jersey. It might just be because the normal Hurricanes jersey is so damn stupid that nearly anything would look better. They share their colors with just about every other team in the East (Devils, Panthers, etc…), and the logo certainly doesn’t scream hockey. The new logo, a tattered flag fluttering in the wind, is actually kind of interesting. And the colors, though still shared, are in better proportions then they were before. A nearly completely black jersey isn’t so interesting, but it is something the NHL doesn’t currently have which makes it much more entertaining to look at.
Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers are getting back to what works. I’ll admit I actually like the oil drop in the cog logo, but there’s something about a classic look that trumps anything new you could create… hence the term classic I guess. The orange and blue are the colors that Edmonton came into the league with, they’re the colors that Gretzky played under, and they’re the colors that they won many many cups under. Like a lot of Northwest teams the jersey colors are based on the local scenes, blue and orange are working colors, Edmonton is a working class town.
St Louis Blues: Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool! These jerseys are so cool they absolutely belong in Music City. The shield is great, with the classic Blues logo in front of the Gateway Arch. The colors are great but we better hope they don’t play a game, alternate versus alternate, against the Sabres or we may have no idea which team has the puck. The best part about this jersey is how ugly St. Louis jerseys could have been, but instead they got these beauties. St Louis is taking a cue from the teams with history, shield logos are hockey perfection.
Toronto Maple Leafs: No surprise here, we’ve already seen this jersey from the Leafs. None-the-less it’s a nice jersey to see. It brings me back to an earlier time, a time when helmets were for the army, sweaters were sweaters, and six teams were all you needed. I’ve read a lot of reviews, both previously and in this newest incarnation, that complained about the wordmark in the Leaf. I actually like wordmarks on jerseys. It’s not just for baseball people. There’s something nice about seeing the team name and city on a hockey sweater, and it’s hardly a new phenomenon, rather it was common all the way up to the Original Six era. I think it makes a lot of sense both stylistically and historically.
And there you have it, a quick synopsis of all the new jerseys I have missed. And allow me to apologize for making the mistake of ignoring these jerseys for so long. Now that I’m caught up I can finally relax.
What’s Going Right:
Goaltending! Finally, after watching goaltenders struggling all year we’re seeing some stellar play from the goaltenders who were supposed to be stellar. Even without Brodeur, and with Turco playing like Swiss cheese, top-tier goaltenders are showing why they are top tier. Roberto Luongo might not let another goal in all year. Henrik Lundqvist is making sure the Rangers are the best team in the east. But what’s really fun to watch is the next generation keeping the crease free from pucks. Ryan Miller is playing like a man possessed, Alex Auld is the only thing Ottawa has the be optimistic about, and moving South, Mike Smith is making Dallas regret letting him go. Suddenly goal scorers are facing goaltenders on their game, and that’s just as fun to watch.
ALL OF THE HOCKEY, NONE OF THE ICE
Welcome to the politics free Yankee Hockey! Where the government doesn’t intrude upon your hockey enjoyment.
Once a week I get together with a bunch of folks and play hockey. Now, in California, even Northern California, there isn’t much ice to be found, so we play on the floor. We call it; Floor Hockey. I’ve been playing floor hockey since earlier this year when I found their website. There isn’t much opportunity for a guy like me to play hockey. For one, I have to drive nearly an hour to get to an ice surface, and two I simply can’t afford to buy all the various pads and equipment I would need. Floor hockey is perfect for someone like me who wants all the fun of hockey without all the fuss. The games are quick (first to five goals), contact free but still competitive, and open to everyone. The players are all ages, both genders, and various skill levels. Actually, that may be the best part of the game, you don’t need to be Sidney Crosby to contribute. Even someone who’s never played hockey before, never held a stick, is still more then capable of scoring a goal, stopping a shot, or throwing a great tape-to-tape pass.
In charge of floor hockey in Sacramento is Mark Graham, who happily told me all he could about floor hockery. There is a video forthcoming, but for now, what with my internet problems coupled with some computer non-savy on my part, I’ll just have to paraphrase it.
Mark started playing floor hockey in the third grade in Michigan and immediately fell in love. He’s been organizing floor hockey in Sacramento for over two years now, once a week, nearly 52 weeks a year, rain or shine. He was lucky to find a place to play, an indoor basketball court. Everything needed to play he was able to provide, from homemade nets to simple plastic sticks and pucks. That and at least three players per team is all you need.
Now Mark has a lot of good advice and suggestions for anyone interested in floor hockey, whether or not you live in or around the Sacramento area. Anyone looking to learn more, and watch some clips of the game being played should visit www.sacramentofloorhockey.com.
We have a lot of players that try and play every week. It’s a great way to meet people with similar interests, or at least the similar interest of floor hockey. It’s also a lot of fun to get really personal, find another player that you just want to annoy each game. Actually the most fun is just challenging yourself to get into that extra gear on a race for the puck when you’ve been playing for hours, challenging a defender with your puck handling skills, and challenging a goaltender with a quick wrister. Even though there is no body checking allowed there is still a lot of fierce play, and a lot of satisfaction from playing well.
As for me, I like playing defense. Scoring goals is fun, sure, but there’s something about the look on someone’s face when you get your stick in the way of their shot that was sure to go in that’s very satisfying. That and my real strength is the stretch pass, though I’m pretty good at stickhandling too. My stats on this Monday was 1 goal, and a bunch of assists, which was nothing compared to Mark who must have had at least 8 goals, as well as a long period of shutting out the opposition in goal. The guys been playing since third grade? What’d you expect?
WHAT’S GOING RIGHT:
Practically nothing. Brodeur’s out until at least February, my internet is down until the phone company figures out what’s wrong with my line, and Dallas is giving away goals like they’re candy on Halloween. The one really good thing going on is happening up in Toronto where opponent leads are disappearing like DB Cooper (look him up). On Tuesday they once again came back, this time from a three goal deficit to take the game into overtime. They eventually lost sure, but what is up with teams playing against Toronto? Oh, except that Toronto gave up Kyle Wellwood for nothing in the offseason and he currently leads the Canucks in goals after a two goal game Tuesday, so I guess even T.O. has some regrets. I’m sorry folks, but having no internet makes me cranky.
BREAKAWAY GOALS
There was an odd game in Anaheim on Friday. A game that began as a goaltending duel became a shootout, and then a shootout became a goaltending duel.
The Canucks and Ducks, a team who’s combined goals last year was probably less then the goals Detroit will score this year, managed to put up twelve goals in regulation and overtime, and then only three goals in 26 attempts in the shootout. What began as a game between two goaltenders who have been amongst the best around in the last three years, Roberto Luongo and J.S. Giguere, between two teams who were in the bottom of the league in goals scored last year, became like a Halloween haunted house, except with goals instead of ghosts. The Ducks scored two power-play goals in the first period to take an early 2-0. The Canucks then scored five unanswered goals between the end of the first and the second half of the second to go up 5-2 and get Giguere replaced by Jonas Hiller. And then things got weird as, in the final four and a half minutes, the Ducks went on to score three unanswered goals to tie the game! After scoring eight minutes into the third the Canucks finally held onto a lead and were looking to win 6-5, and then with less then a minute left Corey Perry scored the equalizer. Could the game get any weirder? No goals in overtime means a shootout that, given the nature of the game, shouldn’t last more then three rounds right? Try 26 total shooters, 3 total goals with Mattias Ohlund finally winning it.
How weird was that game? The last time the Canucks gave up six goals and won was December 4 1996 when they beat the Sabre 7-6. The Ducks have never scored six goals in a game and lost (they have had two 6-6 ties in their history however). Last year Vancouver scored six goals in a game only twice, this year they’ve already done it three times. The Ducks gave up six goals only once last year, already this year it’s occurred twice.
Another odd game occurred on Saturday in Toronto where the Leafs, trailing 54 minutes into the game 2-0 against a powerhouse Rangers team suddenly exploded with 5 goals in the last six minutes. It wasn’t just the goal scoring from a team that doesn’t score a ton of goals, it was that it was the second win in a row that was due to a third period comeback. It also was the surprise hero John Mitchell who scored not just his first NHL goal, but his second as well, and he came an unfortunate bounce away from a hat trick.
As of Sunday’s games the league is averaging roughly 6 goals a game, which is about one goal up from the 5.1 goals per game last season, and that’s great news. The league has been discussing how to get scoring up for awhile now, and people were seriously starting to think that widening the nets would be a good idea. I think there are three things that have scoring up this year. The first is an actual rule change. I think that having the face-off in the offensive zone at the start of a power play is fantastic and is certain to keep scoring up. The other two reasons are changes in players this year. For one, top tier goaltenders are not playing top tier (Dallas has allowed 50 goals this year), and many veterans have either retired or left for Europe, which gives young, speedy, talented players a shot at the big leagues. Hopefully scoring stays up above six per game so people will stop asking for wider nets. Oh, and entertainment factors too I guess.
Sometimes a game with a lot of goals can be exciting to watch, like the New York/Toronto game where there was a dramatic comeback in the final minutes. Sometimes a game with a lot of goals can be boring as hell, like the Vancouver/Anaheim game where every shot seems to go in and the whole challenge of the thing seems lost. The great thing about hockey is the building anticipation. Every time a team gets a scoring opportunity tension grows in your body. Every shot, every save… the tension grows and grows. And then when a goal is finally scored it’s all released in one rush, either in excitement or disappointment. When you get too many goals in too little chances the tension doesn’t get a chance to build and the goals are no longer exciting, hockey starts feeling like basketball. Of course, we don’t want it to be like soccer either. So far this year there has been a great balance of goals; enough to pad stats and get the crowd into the game, but not so much that it becomes blase. The 6-6 game certainly padded some stats (unless you’re a goaltender of course), but it makes for a surprisingly boring game.
I’d also like to say that I appreciate all the comments I’ve been getting. I love hearing from my readers, even the ones who don’t agree with me, so please keep them coming.
THIS WEEKS QUESTIONS:
Has Mats Sundin finally made a decision to play? Where will Brendand Shannahan end up? Is this the real Lightning, or are they still the same team that started the season? Who can stop Tomas Vanek? What’s the real injury to Martin Broduer? And how will the Devils respond? When Ovechkin returns from Russia, will he be ready to play? Will I be able to survive four days without reliable internet access?
NOW APPEARING IN TORONTO…
So the big news this week was the arrival, in Toronto, of Mats Sundin. That’s right, the Mats Sundin. The same Mats Sundin who stubbornly refuses to admit that he’s going to rejoin the Maple Leafs in December despite the fact that we all know he will be. By we I meant everyone but Vancouver fans who are still hoping that $20million over two years is enough to entice him West.
Of course, Mr. Sundin tells us that his coming to Toronto should not be taken as a sign that he’s going to come back to the Leafs. Apparently he’s merely checking on the status of his Canada house and will shortly be returning to his Sweden house. But really people, does he need to fly all the way across the pond just to check on his house? Certainly he must have friends, family, employees, who can do that for him. He came back because Toronto is his second home, and there’s no reason for him to think about leaving.
Sundin has to be looking at players like Joe Sakic who are still having productive years playing for the teams they’ve led for years and thinking “I could do that too”. Sorry Vancouver fans, if he wanted $20mil, he’d have said yes. He wants to play for Toronto, even though they are going no where in the standings, even though they’ll pay him less, because they are his team. I know he hasn’t turned down any of the offers that are still on the table for him, but you have to think that at this point they are as good as gone.
I have to be honest, I’m getting very tired of these will he/won’t he retire garbage that we’ve been getting from so many sports figures these days. I mean, it’s getting to the point where this doesn’t seem so unlikely. Sundin wants to play again, we all know he wants to play again, he needs to just put on a Leafs sweater so we can all start breathing again.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK:
FABIAN BRUNNSTROM! Wow, I’m thinking Canucks fans are a little upset about Dave Nonis’ departure right about now, see as how he practically had this kid signed before he was fired. Hat trick in his first game, only the third player to do such a thing. And to think the Stars have been sitting him… well not anymore. If he can keep playing like this he ads a new look to the Stars offense. He’s the kind of player who’s vitality can really spark something in the vets on this team. If he can keep the energy up, guys like Modano will feed off it and it may produce a kind of offensive year for the Stars that I certainly didn’t see coming. Brunnstrom is going to make the fans of every other team wonder how they could have missed out on this dynamic forward.
Also surprising is the impuslive firing of Blackhawks’ coach Denis Savard yesterday. The Blackhawks were supposed to be one of the big players in the Central Division this year, but have started slowly. The thing is, they’ve been playing well, their defense and goaltending have let them down, and they’re a young team that needs a little time to gel. Anyone who pays attention to hockey could have seen a slow start out of Chicago coming, firing Savard is unlikely do have any positive effect. He was replaced by Joel Quenneville who is a good coach and will do fine this year, but he won’t do any better then Savard would have.
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