Bruins-Flyers round 2 preview

by Brandt Corbin

            Round 2’s last matchup starts Saturday afternoon, and it will feature a rematch of last years epic battle between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. The only difference this year is the Flyers who came back from 3-0 last year, have home ice advantage. This year the series will be as interesting if not more. Can you imagine this, Chara vs Pronger, Richards vs Krejci, and Boucher vs Thomas. These two eastern conference powers are two of the deepest teams upfront, on the backend, Bruins have an obvious edge is goaltending.

Who will matchup against who?

            Expect to see Flyers coach Peter Laviolette get his captain Mike Richards to go head to head against Boston’s #1 line of David Krejci, Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic. We could also see Chris Pronger against that line, but only when he gets closer to 75% health. Boston on the other hand will get captain Zdeno Chara against Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino. Whoever wins the head to head matchups will do their team a huge favour.

Flyers limping into series

            Jeff Carters status going into round 2 is in question, as is Andreas Nodl, and there is no question Chris Pronger is not even close to 100%. There is no question about it, the Bruins will be dumping it into Pronger’s corner and pound him as much as possible, can they do it while remaining discipline? The Bruins are close to being healthy, but Chris Kelly has a full face shield, and they do have the obvious bumps and bruises like every team has this time of the year. Whoever remains the most healthy will likely win this series.

Goaltending

            There is no goaltending debate in Boston, but how long before the Flyers have another one? In round 1 Phili, started 3 different goalies, with them all being pulled from one of their starts. Going into the series veteran Brian Boucher is the number one guy, and he will be backed up by rookie Sergei Bobrovsky. Bruin’s Tim Thomas struggled at times in round 1, but turned it around when it mattered most. Without question the Boston netminder will face allot more traffic in his crease than what he had against Montreal.

Lets get ready to rumble?

            Both teams have there fair share of nasty characters and allot of them don’t really care for each other. If the score gets out of hand, both teams would likely start taking liberties with one other. The Bruins have more players designed for this kind of series. With that being said, a trusted Flyers source informed me tonight that enforcer Jody Shelley (recovering from broken orbital bone) could be ready for game 1. My question for my source is full face shield (if Shelley plays).  My source replied “(Shelley) said he would take his helmet off and still fight.” If for some reason Shelley cannot dress for game one, we could also see Zach Rinaldo, a rookie who had 33 fights in the AHL this year.

            So by the sounds of it, the Flyers are preparing for a rougher series, now what about the Bruins? They certainly did not play an abrasive against the Montreal Canadiens which could have cost them dearly, if not for three overtime wins.

Bruins have no chance unless power play gets going

            Boston did not score one power play goal during the first round against Montreal, their penalty kill was 77.8% another stat that needs to improve. If the special teams do not improve, they have no chance to win this series. The Flyers power play was average at just below 15% their penalty kill was 78% against the Sabres.

Game changers

            Third liner Michael Ryder was a game changer in round one, but will he be as evident against the more aggressive Flyers? I can state the obvious and say Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, Chris Pronger and/or Daniel Briere will be game changers, but it is the depth/role players who step up when need be that will make the difference. So look for Gregory Campbell, Chris Kelly for the Bruins, Darrell Powe and Daniel Carcillo for the Flyers, to step up and deliver a big shot block or a big hit and change the course of this series.

My prediction

            This is going to be a hard fought series, I like the Flyers in seven games. As long as they can avoid the injury bug, they have the better third line and better specialty teams, and home ice advantage. 

 

Down goes Russia!

by Brandt Corbin

Germany upsets Russia

            The Russians didn’t waist much time to lay an egg. In the opening game of the 2011 World Ice Hockey Championships, Russia got shutout by Germany 2-0. Some of you will assume they outshot Germany badly, but that was not the case, in the last two periods Germany outshot the Russians 23-13. It was the first time in 33 years that Germany had beaten the Russians, and its obviously the start they were looking for. “Our players executed the game plan perfectly and we had good goaltending,” said German head coach Uwe Krupp. Germany now faces another tough test against Slovakia, if they win that game they are almost guarantee themselves the top seed in pool 4.

Canada solid against Belarus

            Goaltender James Reimer was solid for Canada, as he stared in the teams 4-1 win against Belarus. Aside from Reimer, Canada’s best player was little-known Mario Scalzo, who had two assists in the opener. The Canadians today added four players, forward James Neal, goaltender Jonathan Bernier, and defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo and Marc-Andre Graganani. They now move on to play France on Sunday, but on Tuesday will have a bigger test in Switzeland.

Switzerland comes up with late win

            The Switz waited almost to long to get their first goal. They beat France 1-0 after Ivo Ruthemann scored 1:43 into overtime. It was a goaltending battle as Switzerland's Tobias Stephan stopped 31 shots for the shutout. Former Canadiens, Capitals and Black Hawk Christbal Huet provided France possibly a huge point depending on how they play against Belarus Tuesday? Huet’s biggest save came with 13 minutes left in the third period as he absolutely denied Andres Ambuhl.

Next big upset?

             Despite no Thomas Vanek (due to injury) does Austria have enough to pull an upset over the Americans? Oliver Setzinger and Darcy Werenka need to come up large if this were to occur. But as noted in the preview of the tournament, the USA is not overloaded with offensive ability, so one absolutely key is the specialty teams. Austria will get 4-5 chances on the powerplay and they need to make it count. I’m not going to lay down a bet on this one, but I’ll say 4-2 Austria, mainly because they’ll go 2-5 on the PP, with 1 empty netter.

2011 World Hockey Championship Preview

by Brandt Corbin

Switzerland looking to take next step

            Shawn Simpson's Switzerland National hockey team is looking to take the next step within hours. They are opening the 2011 World Hockey Championships against France, and they are wanting to get into the top four for the first time since 1998. Last year the team got fifth place, but this year will have to do it without veteran goaltenders Jonas Hiller & Martin Gerber. Instead they will turn to former Dallas Star netminder Tobias Stephan, while being backed up by 24-year-old Leonardo Geonoi. Every player on the team played in Switzerland this year, but Montreal Canadien Yanik Weber could join the team any day now. The team will be led by defenseman Goran Bezina and Mathias Seger with the supporting cast will be Julien Vauclair and Raphael Diaz. The Switz forward set is very familiar to the Olympics', Martin Pluss and Julien Sprunger, Ivo Ruthemann and Andres Ambuhl will be counted on for goal scoring.

Norway missing two key players

            Norway was looking to improve from their solid 2010 Olympics, but its taken a big hit with two big omissions. Veteran Tore Vikingstad, and New York Ranger Mats Zuccarello are not with the team for the 2011 International Ice Hockey World Championships. Both players combined for five of Norway's eight goals in Vancouver. Vikingstad who might join the team later in the tournament, had a hat trick in a key game against Switzerland Feb 20, 2010. Zuccarello is out for the entire tournament, as he suffered  a broken hand while playing in the AHL. Norway shocked everyone in the Olympics playing tight games during the tournament.

Who can win gold, not the Americans

            The Americans are not among those that will contend for a medal at the World Championships. Biggest reason why is going to be their lack of offense. Derek Stephan, Blake Wheeler and Tim Stapleton is the teams number one line. Secondary scoring you say, not likely. Ryan Shannon, Jack Skille, and Mike Brown are not known for their offensive ability. Biggest strength will be the teams backend led by Kevin Shattenkirk, Ryan Mcdonagh and Mark Stuart.

            As per usual Canada will be considered one of the favourites to win the championship. They have four solid lines up front, and a very solid top four defense. The only question mark currently is in goal, were rookie James Reimer will be counted on heavily to led the team in net, backing up is Edmonton's Devon Dubnyk.

            The other threats are the usual suspects. Russia, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic all have European based line-ups, but as always two or three of these teams will lay an egg in the big game. Czechs success will depend on goaltender Ondrej Pavelic, Finland must be strong in their own end, as they do not have an established netminder this year. Russia will count on Kovalchuk and a rusty Evengi Nabakov and for the first time in many years Sweden will not have either Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alferdson or Markus Naslund.

            This is Canada's tournament to lose, reason being every other team have got glaring weaknesses. Who might they play in the finals is a very good question, the safe bet would say the Czechs or the Russians, but the Switz are the dark horses, one solid effort in net could cause shockwaves throughout the tournament.

Tampa-Capitals Round 2 Preview

by Brandt Corbin

            When the Tampa Bay Lightning came back in round 1 from a 3-1 deficit, they got what they wanted all along. A second round date with their arch rivals Washington Capitals and its fitting these two teams fought tooth and nail for the Southeast divisional championship. It will feature Alexander Ovechkin vs Steven Stamkos, but if the first round was an indication Stamkos better show up earlier and more often. With the exception of a three point effort in game 5, Stamkos was a complete no-show against Pittsburgh. This series is going to be a tightly contested series, as both teams can shut it down defensively just as good as others.

Secondary scoring a plenty

            Both teams have powerful first lines, led by Stamkos and Martin St.Louis, the Caps will counter with Ovechkin & Nicklas Backstrom. The second lines will feature Vincent Lecavlier, Simon Gagne and Ted Purcell, the Caps second line will be centered by Jason Arnott, flagged by Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich. Bruce Boudreau’s Capitals have to have the advantage on the second line, with the exception of Purcell, Lecavlier and Gagne have struggled quite a bit this year. Both teams have strong checking lines, that can bang and crash, while chipping in the odd goal.

Goaltending

            Both netminders, Tampa’s Dwayne Rolloson and Capitals goalie Michael Neuvirth were among the best in the first round, and are among the main reason why teams are advancing to the second round. The 41-year-old Rolloson is perfect 6-0 in his last half dozen elimination games, and infact shutout the Caps twice in the last half of the season. Neuvirth outplayed without question “the King” Henrik Lundquist in the first round, and is playing his best hockey of his early career. Goaltending is a toss up, look for both teams to gets tons of traffic in front of each goaltender.

Defense

            Tampa’s defense is not the strongest, but they have few weaknesses. The Caps on the other hand have three strong pairings, plus more as Dennis Wideman could be ready in the middle of this series. Boudreau’s backend, has offense, defense, toughness. This years defense in Washington is the best they’ve had since the mid 80’s when they were led by Rod Langway, Kevin Hatcher, Scott Stevens and Larry Murphy.

When its all said and done

            The Caps have allot of weapons, then on top of that, they’re the strongest they ever been defensively. So for Tampa Bay to be successful, Stamkos must be consistent, while Rolloson must have a repeat performance of round 1. Games 3 & 4 are on back to back nights, if either team can take both of those games, they’ll be the favourites.

Capitals in 6 games.

Preds-Canucks round 2 preview

by Brandt Corbin

            Lets face it, Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo played their worst hockey all year in the first round last week. Whoever turns it around faster and remains consistent during the series will have to be considered the favourite. Vancouver has more talent, but the Canucks have to play a more deeper hockey club in the Nashville Predators. In the first round, the Canucks played a softer, not as deep Chicago Blackhawks. Now they are playing a team with much more structure defensively, but also a team that has no obvious weaknesses.

Physicality

            Both teams were in overly physical first rounds, and the teams at times had questionable officiating both early and late in the series. What is and what is not a penalty? The Canucks will find out early in the series, the Predators will not back physically like the Hawks did for the majority of the series. While the Canucks have Kevin Bieksa, Raffi Torres and Maxim Lapierre, the Preds will have SOB, (Shane O’Brien) and the most physical player in series Jordin Tootoo. Vancouver has to be cautious, Tootoo is one of the few players in the NHL that can take over a game with his banging and crashing, the Nuvait Inuktitut native played hands down his best hockey in the month of April.

Secondary scoring

            The Canucks without question have the top end skill that Nashville does not have, and yes its been pointed that Nashville was the most challenged offensive team going into the playoffs. But, Nashville in the first round scored the 2nd most goals averaging 3.67 goals per game, while the Canucks scored the 2.29 gpg, 3rd worst during the first round. Alain Vigneault’s team better hope they get more secondary scoring plus more from their top end. And why? Every skater on Nashville with the exception of O’ Brien had atleast 1 point, furthermore every skater but 3 has at least 3 points, that is something Vancouver cannot match.

Intangibles

            Both teams penalty kill in the first round was less than desirable and just like the goaltending, the team that turns the specialty teams around earlier will be more successful. It’s no secret the Canucks are stacked on the first two lines, then throw two checking lines at you. Nashville on the other hand have four lines that can score, and check, but not one of those lines are going to score two or three goals faithfully every night, its offense by committee.

            Each team have a couple of injuries they need to deal with. The status of Sami Salo is uncertain, but likely will miss the first half of the series, aside from that the Canucks are healthy. For Nashville, Martin Erat (upper body) will likely miss the start of the series, they will be without Francis Boulion and Matthew Lombardi for the entire series.

           Another question that may need to be answered is this, what is in game 1 Luongo lets in 5 goals on 20 shots, how soon would they turn to backup Cory Schneider? That an issue in round 1, and come game six Schneider was in action.

Game Changers

            Up front the Canucks have more game changers, mainly in the Sedin’s and Ryan Kesler. Make no mistake, if these three all stars are absent in round 2 like in round 1 they cannot win. The Canucks took the Hawks for granted and it came within inches of costing them the series. Nashville has three game changers themselves, Norris nominee Shea Weber one of if not the brightest young defenseman in the NHL, along with his defensive partner Ryan Suter. It has been said by many experts Weber & Suter are the best tandem in the league. Rinne is another game changer for the Preds. The Finnish netminderin with Luongo were nominated for top goaltender in the NHL. Nashville’s third game changer is there work ethic, it virtually impossible to outwork Nashville, just ask Anaheim.

Line Matching

            We likely will see Kesler’s line matched up against the trio of Sergei Koisysten, Patric Hornquist and Mike Fisher, while you’re going to see Nashville coach Barry Trotz do whatever he needs to do to get Weber & Suter against the Sedins. When Nashville gets home ice look for Trotz to get Fisher head to head against the Sedins, but in Vancouver Trotz will be content with David Legwand head to head against the Sedins.

LA Kings on the upswing going into 2011-12?

 by Brandt Corbin

            The LA Kings are on the upswing and there is no debating that.  Terry Murray’s hockey club gave the Pacific division champion San Jose Sharks a run for their money. Most of the “experts” thought this series would be over in five games. In actuality the Sharks were fortunate not to be down 3-0 after game 3. But, of course we all know the Kings got beat in game six Monday night.

            The impact that Anze Kopitar could have had will never be known, but there is absolutely no question he is the Kings best player offensively and defensively. He is so solid in both ends, he has to be considered one of the top ten overall players in the NHL.

             Going into the off-season one can draw to the conclusion that Alexei Ponikarovsky has no chance in hell in coming back next year. Same question is being asked about Michael Handzus, does he want to return, and/or do the Kings want him back. The reason why the Kings could go without both veterans, are because of the Kings up and coming prospects. Andrei Loikionov, Brayden Schenn and Oscar Moller have to be given the chance to crack the team, and play top nine minutes as forwards. Loikinonov and Moller have the better chance to crack the top nine, both were given that chance this past season and played alright.

             The emergence of the checking line of  Brad Richardson, Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds give the Kings a possible shut down line going forward into next year. During the first round, the “checking line” outscored the Sharks #1 line more than 2 to 1. Some experts thought Kevin Westgarth was a spare part going into the playoffs. In the regular season the enforcer had 3 assists in 57 games during the regular season, but in the playoffs he had 2 assists in 6 games. During the playoffs, Westgarth, was inserted in the line-up    over Moller & Ponikarovsky and played an average of eight minutes a night.  “He's been an important player” said Murray in regards to Westgarth’s play.

            LA’s blueline will look very similar next year, of course led by Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson two blue chippers just heading into their prime. Rob Scuderi and Willie Mitchell are 3 & 4 going into next season, likely to be followed by Matt Greene and Alex Martinez. The Kings also have three prospects who might battle to get into the top six, with Vyacheslav Voynov being given the longest look (51 points in 76 games in AHL).

           Number one netminder Jonathan Quick struggled badly in games 3-4, but was arguably the best player in games 1,2, 5 and 6. Allot of people are saying going into next year that backup Jonathan Bernier is going to challenge Quick for the #1 job. Having two potential number one goalies are a very nice option for the Kings, mainly because are very young and very cheap (less than 3 million per year). If one goalie were to standout it could lead down the line for one to be moved, and giving them a nice asset to strengthen the team elsewhere.

Are the Kings going to be the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks

            When its all said and done, next years LA Kings are very similar to the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks in many ways. They’ve got plenty of depth up front, mixed in with skill, speed, size & toughness. Its the Kings have a solid top four defense and have solid goaltending. Also similar is the Kings have gotten into the playoffs the past two years and given San Jose & Vancouver a good run for there money.

            This is what I mean. Kopitar is very much like Jonathan Toews, the Hawks had six 20 goal scorers, the Kings (including Dustin Penner) had the same amount of 20 goal scorers. The checking lines are very similar, both have skill but grit and toughness. Doughty and Johnson play very much like Seabrook & Keith, either or both of Bernier & Quick could be Niemi. The big advantage the Kings have that the Hawks did not, is cap space, the Kings likely will have 5-10 million in cap space for 2011.

When will Pittsburgh be forced to move Malkin or Staal

 

by Brandt Corbin

        How many years will Jordan Staal accept being a third line center? Lets face it on some teams he would be a number one centerman. With the exception of Detroit’s Pavel Datysuk and Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler, Staal is the leagues best two way center.  The 23-year-old Pittburgh Penguin is playing behind Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin (when the two are healthy). If one were to combine all of their salaries, (Crosby, Malkin and Staal) make 21.4 million per year.

Malkin to play wing with Crosby?     

        One option for Dan Blysma, head coach of the Penguins is to move Malkin to the wing and play with Crosby, then have Staal center the second line. Pretty nice option to have'; because you could divide the three up onto separate lines at anytime. But, fact of the matter is the Pens are thin on the wing. Chris Kunitz and James Neal can score 30 goals, but from there they are lucky if they have two or three that can be 15 goal scorers.

Would the Pens consider moving Malkin?

        On top of the 21.4 million committed to three centerman, they have over another 21 million invested in four defenseman and 1 goalie. Numbers wise 42 million in eight players is too much so eventually they would need to make a move. With Malkin being the most obvious candidate, mainly for a few reasons. One, they’re not moving Crosby. Two, Staal overall is the more complete center, and has performed much better in the post season than Malkin. Tons of teams from the LA Kings, Atlanta, Minnesota, and Phoenix are just four out of many teams that would offer the Penguins a compelling package for the Russian superstar. Would the Penguins not be better served with two younger wingers who make 2-3 million, giving them cap space and options on the wing for Crosby or Staal. Another reason they would benefeit from moving Malkin is they have Dustin Jeffrey and Mark Letestu, two youngsters who have played well down the middle this year.

        Other reasons why they might be forced to make a move is the following;  they have eight forwards, seven de-man and 2 goalies under contract for the (2011-12) season. Problem is this they have a projected 3.67 million dollars in cap space available. The following players currently on their roster that are scheduled to be UFA’s are Max Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, Michael Rupp, Aaron Asham, Craig Adams and Chris Conner. Now to be fair Matt Cooke is one of the eight forwards, making 1.8 million per year, it would not be a surprise to some to see his bought out or traded.

        When its all said and done, the Pens control their own destiny. Whether that means moving Staal or Malkin, or holding on to both, every team in the NHL wishes they had the Penguins options down the middle.

       

Who was the NHL's worst ever ref?

by Brandt Corbin

           

            Over the years we’ve seen our fair share of calls, where you say out loud WTF was that. That is why we’re going to review the worst ever NHL referees. Some of these guys you’ll ask yourselves how they even got a job officiating a minor league game, but some how someway they got to the NHL.

Not even close, the absolute worst ref ever is? 

            Lance Roberts, this guy was a complete and udder joke. When I started to watch hockey faithfully in 1993 this ass clown was one the referees. Every time I’d watch a game and Roberts was officiating I would roll my eyes and ask myself why me why now. I cannot remember one game that I seen his officiate that he was horrible. You have to remember this back then there was only 1 ref not two.  Finally after 14 seasons and 558 games officiated he was fired in 2001.

Who else was and is god awful

            Two ref’s now a days are almost as bad as Roberts, and no I do not have anything who is French Canadian. The worst currently is Stephane Auger, he is so bad, he’s one of the few refs not selected for the playoffs for two years in a row. When you’re not chosen for the second season, you could be on the short list to be fired. It all started couple of years ago where Auger had an incident with Shane Doan. Auger had claimed Doan said a slur towards the french Auger, Doan was accessed a misconduct. The NHL reviewed the incident but concluded they were baseless. Then two seasons ago, Auger gave Nashville’s Jerad Smithson a boarding major and game misconduct.  As soon as he called, it became apparent the victim Alexander Burrows had acted as if he was hurt, but was fine. Auger officiated the next game between the two teams, and Burrows alleged that Auger said (he would) “get him back”. The league again looked into the matter, but said nothing could be sustained. Then this past year many New York Islanders accused Auger of conspiracy in a game versus the Devils.

         Marc Joanette is doing himself no favour's so for this post season. I can count three or four times so far in two weeks, where he’s lost complete control of the game. He called Mike Richards for a elbowing major, Patrick Kaleta came after Richards, and the Flyers captain got his elbow up to defend himself. That plus other calls have all fans rolling their eyes when Joanette is announced as an official of a game.

           A couple of others who deserves honourable mention as one of the worst refs ever. Dean Warren was fired four years ago, more to do with union issues, but on the ice he was not overly great. Mick McGeough had allot of issues, plus his fair share of controversial calls and actions  on the ice. Mike Hasenfrantz and Rob Martel all are others that had problems, and shockingly non of them every officiated a Stanley Cup Final.

 

Nashville one win away from round 2

by Brandt Corbin,

   

            Going into their round one series versus the Nashville Predators the Anaheim Ducks new they’d be in a fight. They knew more nights than not, they’d be outworked but had hoped their top line and power play would be enough. Five games into the series, the Ducks power play has scored 7 goals. They’ve gotten plenty of production from the two top lines but as we go into game six Sunday night they’re on the brink of elimination.

Why you ask? Because the Preds are running and gunning, getting more timely goals when they need it. Game 5 Friday night was a prime example, Nashville was down 2-1, they then got a game tying goal by Joel Ward. Late in the third when down 3-2, Captain Shea Weber scored with 33 seconds left, then Jerrad Smithson won it 2 minutes into overtime.

            To put things into perspective, the win in game 5 was the first win in overtime for the Preds, first game 5 win ever and assures then of at least game 7, something again they’ve never had before.

 

Jordin Tootoo coming out party

            Jordin Tootoo’s original coming out party was the Word Junior Championships about a decade ago. Since then he’s been an average third-fourth line mocker & grinder. With one week left in the regular season, and the Preds not assured of a playoff spot, Tootoo took his game to the next level. Tuesday, April 5 Tootoo had his first ever three point game in a 6-3 win over Atlanta. That combined with his two assist effort in game 5, plus being one of the teams best players in the playoffs proves he’s ready for prime time.

Preds look good going into game 6, Sunday in Nashville

            The scariest thing of all, is that Preds goalie Pekka Rinne has not played even close to his best hockey all year. The Vezina nominated goalie has a less than average 3.57 goals against average with a .865 save percentage. Good thing for Nashville is you know he can take it another notch or two.

             Another reason for two why they’re looking good, is every Nashville skater with the exception of Sean O’Brien has registered a point, 14 of them have goals. The reason why they are so dangerous is they’ve had more guys stepping up then Anaheim does, and its three sometimes four lines each and every night.

            On Sunday for game 6 the Bridgestone Arena is going to be a jumping joint, their team for the first in club history can advance to the second round of playoffs. It could be the start of something special yet to come.

Who is the NHL's worst ever goaltender?

 by Brandt Corbin

             When you are thinking of the absolute worst ever goaltender in the National Hockey League who comes to mind? Trust me there have been dozens and dozens of them especially in the late 80’s and 90’s when goaltending was not a premium.  For me a few comes to mind and I mean these guys were horrible goalkeepers, how they ever made it to the big leagues is beyond me.

Peter Sidorkiewicz  

            Do you ever wonder why the Hartford Whalers were as terrible as were for so many years? One of your answers was Polish born goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz. In his rookie season, his only decent season, he finished with a 22-18-4 record, with a 3.03 gaa and .890 save percentage. In his next 3 years with the Whalers he was a combined 49-60-20 with an average gaa of 3.47 and a .870 SP%. He then was claimed by Ottawa Senators in the 1992 Expansion draft. Lets just say he did not have a career year while playing in Ottawa. He lasted one year with the Sens after a record of 8-46-3 with a 4.43 gaa and a .856%.

Andre “Red Light” Raciot

            “Red Light” Raciot served as Patrick Roy’s backup in Montreal for four seasons. How he survived four years in Montreal is a miracle in itself, he a career high 3.20 gaa with a .891%. In the 1992-93 season he actually had a good record going 17-5 but also had a 3.39 gaa. His nickname “Red Light” kind of says it all about his time in Habland. In his final year 94-95, he went 2-6-2 but was banished to minors because of his 4.44 gaa that year.

Scott Gordon

             In the early 1990’s the Quebec Nordiques went through the worst stretch any team has almost in history (48 wins in 3 seasons). Former New York Islander head coach Scott Gordon was a much better coach than he was a goaltender, but lets just say he’s never will be nominated for coach of the year. He only played 23 games during two seasons for the Nords, winning a grand total of two games, while losing 16 contests. His goals against was much better than his save percentage. In 1990 Gordon had a 5.94 gaa, but with .787 save percentage, that has to be a NHL worst in history

Ron Low

            In his 13 year career Ron Low has 2 winning seasons, in those one of those two seasons he played only 29 games. In his other 11 years he averaged 40+ per year. His lowest goals against average was 3.37 in the 1977-78 season, its a miracle he played 13 years after his two years in Washington.  In those two years he went 14-67-4 with a 5.45 goals against average. In the 75-76 season, Low let in 1.3 more goals per game then his fellow goalie Bernie Wolfe (4.16 gaa).

Michel Dion

            If Michel Dion had a choice, he would have rather stayed in the World Hockey Association (WHA). In that league Dion was a respectable netminder playing four seasons with average gaa of 3.45. When the league folded, he went to the NHL and a dream quickly turned into a nightmare. In his rookie NHL season (79-80) Dion had a average 3.70 gaa, his best ever during his six year career. His next season in Quebec his goals against went up to 5.32, he topped that off in 83-84 with a 5.33 gaa in 30 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Who’s been the worst this decade?

             Who would the NHL’s worst goalie over the last 5 years? Two names pop up automatically, one being Vesa Toskala, he was obtained from the Sharks by the Leafs. Toskala was to be the Leafs number one netminder, but instead was anything but. In his first season with the Leafs he had an average 2.74 goals against average, in his last season with the Buds he had a 3.66 gaa with a .874 save percentage. Second name that came to mind would be Tampa’s Mike Smith, who was a key component in the Brad Richards trade to Dallas. Smith has been a complete bust, he can play good one night, the next night he’d look like the second coming of Frank Caprice. His only decent year he had a 2.62 gaa, and a .916 SP%. in the past few years his gaa has ballooned to over gaa over 3 and a save percentage just below .900.

 

Worst goaltending tandem ever

           The 1992-93 San Jose Sharks, I’m trying to think of words to describe on how bad the teams goaltending was. Unbelievably atrocious , then again so was the teams defense as a whole. San Jose’s best goalie Arthurs Irbe, 7-26 with a 4.11 gaa, 886%. From there the goaltending got much worse, then rookie Jeff Hackett and get a load of this 2-30-1, with a 5.28 gaa .856%. Then veteran Brian Hayward and his 2-14-1 record, the only problem was Hayward’s 5.55 gaa .846%, which led to him retirement. I cannot recall any goaltending tandem who played 18 games or more games that had a goals against over 5, it’s just out of this world.

Worst goaltender ever to win a Stanley Cup

            Another question that needs to be asked is who was the worst goaltender to win a Stanley Cup? If the Flyers would have won the cup last year Michael Leighton would win in a landslide. No disrespect to to Leighton but its not farfetched to say he’s a flash in the pan. Now back those who did win a Cup. Online allot of people have mentioned Bill Ranford, mainly because he was 39 games under .500 and had a career goals against average of 3.41. Now to be fair to Ranford he, on the backend of his career had some terrible seasons in Detroit and in Washington just to name a few. Other candidates would have to include Anti Niemi who helped the Hawks win it all last year. Chris Osgood and Tom Barrasso are two other options, as they played on super stacked teams. Who are we kidding even the four we mentioned were above average the year they won it all, while in some games looked below average.

 

Who's the toughest pound for pound scrapper in NHL history?

Over the past thirty or forty years, we've seen a load of characters come and go some for the good some for the bad. Whether it is Eddie Shack, Bobby Clarke, David “Tiger” Williams, the list goes on and on. We’ve always had our enforcers, those pains in this ass those who played the game tough. We’re about to go over a list of some, that did their jobs that much better than others, meaning they were more than a one dimensional player.

Enforcer to a solid second-third liner

                If you handed every general manager in the NHL a wish list, at the very top of that list would be a tough guy that can play a regular shift. Not a one dimensional player, someone that can play 12 minutes or more and not look out of place.  No question about it, at the top of that list would have been Bob Probert. In his prime he was the nastiest, toughest SOB, maybe in NHL history. His fights with Marty McSorley, Craig Coxe and Troy Crowder were legendary, but “Probe” also had the hands to score (29 goals in 87-88). When it was all said and done, he played 935 games, scoring 162 goals and had 3300 PIM’s.  Speaking of McSorely he was without question a very useful player while playing bodyguard for Wayne Gretzky for many years in Edmonton and in LA. He was multi dimensional being able to play both forward and defense.
             Two names from the mid 1990’s come to mind. Randy Mckay started out with Detroit played 3 seasons there, before moving to the New Jersey Devils. Mckay was a key contributor of 2 Stanley Cup Championships with the Devils, scoring 16 goals or more 5 times while playing at the swamp. Second example would be Detroit’s Darren McCarty. Earlier in his career he did his enforcer job so good, the Wings no longer needed Probert. After being added to the “grind line” his career took off, scoring 14 or more goals 5 times, and being known as one of the best pound for pound scrappers.
         This decade you’ve got guys like Shawn Thornton when in Boston, Brandon Prust with Montreal and Ottawa’s Chris Neil. While the three this past decade have not put tons of pucks in the net, they have played big minutes in some big games.

Who the toughest player pound for pound?

            When talking pound for pound who the toughest player of all time? A number of guys come to mind, with some getting honorable mention.
            In the late 70’s Stan Jonathan was considered one of the toughest players in his era despite being 5’8 175 pounds. In the 1979-80 seasons Jonathan fought 25 times, 2 of which were against Behn Wilson whom was 7 inches taller and 35 pounds heavier. The average fight was against guys 4 inches taller and 18 pounds heavier, experts have him winning over 65% of fights that year. In the 80’s there was a variety of guys who could the title as pound for pound the toughest. The late John Kordic could take a punch but could dish one out as well. You also had guys like Jay Miller, Wendel Clark, Chris Nilan some would even say Dale Hunter. It was hands down the toughest decade regarding rough stuff during the 1980’s.
          Over the past two decades, again its very tough to choose from. One scrappy spark plug that no one would mention is Rob Dimiao, while only being 5’8 he physically did not back down from any challenge that came to him. Darren Langdon was the best second half fighter in NHL history; no one will argue that fact. Langdon often was outweighed by 10 pounds, but he liked to prolong his fights, with him taking control over the last 30 or 40 seconds of it.

         Two other names are PJ Stock and Stephen Peat, those two had the three most memorable scraps in the past decade, completely unreal, and their fights could be in the top 10 of all time. Over the past couple of years who is the toughest pound for pound scrapper? Before he retired this past year, one can make the argument for Riley Cote. Former league heavyweight champ Georges Laraque was quoted last year in saying Cote was the toughest pound for pound player in the NHL. Current day one could say Jared Boll or Jordin Tootoo with an honorable mention to the late Rick Rypien.

Bryzgalov costs Coyotes big time

by Brandt Corbin
    Well its official the Detroit Red Wings have swept the Phoenix Coyotes, advancing to the second round of the playoffs. There is one reason why this series only lasted four games, that reason is Ilya Bryzgalov who quite simply laid a big fat egg, despite being one of the best goalies during the regular season. The Russian goaltender was god awful all series long. He let in 17 goals in the four games, half which stunk worse than a house full of pigs. Quite honestly this was one of the worst performances in net in Stanley Cup history.
Phoenix must move on and look elsewhere
     Over the teams existence they have showed very little promise of every being a contender. The team cannot be happy with just getting in and not advancing on in the playoffs, this is why they have no loyal fan base. Good news for Phoenix is that Bryzgalov is an unrestricted free agent. Do they have any prospects coming in to take the reigns in net? No they do not, but veterans such as Tomas Vokoun, Jose Thedore, JS Giguere and Evengi Nabakov are all free agents as well. So the options are there to move on and they must do that, you cannot go with Byzgalov again and risk playoff failure one more year.
     The Yotes must all move on and not re-sign Ed Jovanovski, Eric Belanger and Radim Vrbata. They have enough young prospects that deserve the chance make a difference with the big team. Phoenix has to try something different compared to the 1-2-2 grinding defensive game, they have to take a risk.
Detroit's depth is scary good
     Red Wing star Henrik Zetterberg missed the entire series, yet they threw 4 lines at the Yotes, and every line produced and then some. How scary is their depth? How about 13 different goal scorers in four games, that has to be an NHL record for one series. No team, not the Canucks, Bruins, Caps or Flyers can contend with the four lines that Detroit has.
     Detroit will now have over one week if not ten days to rest the wounded. They can sit back, hope that the other teams beat the living hell out of each other. If Jimmy Howard, Wings goalie can perform above average they are the favorites in the west, no question about it.

Who is the best pest of all-time in the NHL

      by Brandt Corbin 

      Who do you love to hate? Immediately some of you say Sean Avery, Daniel Carcillo and others will say Matt Cooke. But, who else is there that you would deck if you had the opportunity.  Some of you Calgary Flames fans would say Esa Tikkanen, Oiler fans would say Theo Fleury. I can guarantee you my buddy Mark right now would say Patrick Kaleta, while several Canuck fans would say David Bollland.

        Who was the first pest?

        Back in the 80’s there was many nasty, dirty SOB’s from Kenny “Rat” Linesman, Pat Verbeek you can go back to the early 80’s and you had Mario Tremblay (as many Nordique fans can attest). In the late 80’s and 90’s you had three main pests, and these three did anything and everything to win.

Third worst is Ulf Samuelson one of if not the dirtiest defenseman of all time. The former, Whaler, Penguin and Ranger had classic run-ins with Bruin power forward Cam Neely. Many would argue, Samuelson was the main reason Neely’s career was cut 5 or more years short. Near the end of his time as a Ranger, Tie Domi KO’d ok he sucker punched Samuelson knocking him out cold.

Second biggest pest of all time would have been Claude Lemieux. Again Neely had a few run-ins with Lemieux. But, the veterans most classic encounters were with the Detroit Red Wings. In 1995 game 6, the former Av hammered Kris Draper directly from behind, that hit ignited the best rivalry in hockey over the past 20 years. March 26, 1996 was the first time Lemieux returned to the Joe Louis Arena since the hit from behind on Draper. The game was the most memorable regular season game maybe in history, the game featured 9 fights, several linebrawls, one of which seen Red Wing enforcer Darren McCarty jump and beat-up Lemieux then McCarty scored the overtime winner.

Dale Hunter was beyond a pest, he had no limitations for how far he would go. Whether its fighting his own brother Mark Hunter, running dozens of goaltenders over time. Hunter is most infamous for his hit from behind on NY Islander Pierre Turgeon, oh yes after Turgeon scored. The Isles advanced to the third round but without Turgeon who had a separated shoulder because of the hit. Hunter was suspended 21 games the next season, but one-year to the day, Hunter scored an overtime goal in game 7 helping his Caps advance to the second round.

        The next generation

        The 21rst century version of Dale Hunter is Steve Ott. Like the grizzly Hunter, Ott is not one dimensional, he’s got the ability to score 20 goals, plays a solid two way game and extremely hard to play against. The PEI native has the ability to get under the skin of the other teams best players just ask Joe Thornton. You then have pains in the ass like Sean Avery & Daniel Carcillo, both can pay an undisciplined game, but when they are on their games they’re above average third liners. Both can score 12-15 goals, and both are always in the top 5 in PIM’s in a year. There are also “rats” that play in the NHL nowadays. Matt Cooke who needs to say more, every year he elbows an unsuspecting opponent. Eventually Cooke will get what’s coming to him or the league will finally suspend him long enough where he finally gets it. Cooke is like Lemieux except more dangerous  because of his unsuspecting hits, just ask Mark Savard. Another player who can go to far at times is Kaleta, who hits to hurt, the problem is most of the time you cannot see him coming. He has just as big if not a bigger mouth on him than anyone else. His problem is he is a band aid, who’s career will be over within 5 years.

        Who are we kidding?

        Who are we trying to kid? These guys are like heels (bad guys) in pro wrestling, while we pay to see the superstar, the pests add that element that also makes you want to tune it. Who’s going to get them, will it be the enforcer, the other teams pest or nobody at all.

Worst trades ever in the NHL?

 

        In every sports league there has been trades made where one has to say out loud, was the one general manager drunk or high?  These trades have sometimes set a franchise up for success or failure for up to 10 years. Imagine if the same team made two or three colossal moves.

Who is the worst GM in sports history

        Who is the worst GM in sports history? The Montreal Expos in 1994 had a good thing going before then general manager Kevin Malone traded away former all stars Larry Walker, Moises Alou, Pedro Martinez, Marquis Grissom and John Wetteland.

        Former New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury was one of those general managers in the past decade. Reason why we’re pointing Milbury is he had a bunch if of absolutely bonehead moves, that the team is still paying for. Now granted Isles owner Charles Wang had his finger prints on some of these moves.

        Which one of Milbury’s move was the worst? Luongo and Jokinen to Florida for Oleg Kvasha & Mark Parrish, or Alexei Yashin to NYI for Zdeno Chara, Jason Spezza and Bill Muckalt? After the 2007 season the Islanders bought out Yashin but, they had to pay Yashin 2.2 million for eight years (which counts against the teams salary cap).  The same day Milbury traded Luongo, he traded then 20-year-old de-man Eric Brewer to Edmonton for Roman Hamirlik. Can you imagine on how much Luongo, Jokinen, Brewer, Spezza and Chara could have helped the Isles; it’s not farfetched to say they could be a current contender, if not Stanley Cup Champs by now.

Cam Neely & first rounder for Barry Pederson

        People don’t know this but Barry Pederson had back to back 100 point seasons with the Bruins, and in his first two years with the Canucks Pederson was a point a game player. But, we all know Cam Neely was the biggest and best power forward maybe of all time. Combined with Ray Bourque and Adam Oates, the Bruins were dominating for years. If only Neely didn’t have to fight his own battles who knows how long he could have played.

       Another trade similar to the Neely trade, is Joe Nieuwendyk for Jarome Iginla. While Nieuwendyk won a Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999, he wasn’t the dominant player he once was in Calgary. Iginla, now has over 1000 points in the NHL and like Neely has had a hall of fame career, while being one of the best power forward in the past decade.

Flames and Leafs hook-up x2

      Twice the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames hooked up for two of the bigger trades in NHL History. The first of the two was the biggest ever, a 10 player deal, 5 for 5.  On Jan 2, 1992, Toronto Maple Leafs traded Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, Gary Leeman, Michel Petit and Jeff Reese to the Calgary Flames for Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley and Kent Manderville. Leeman was the key for Calgary, but the former 50 goal man never found his form after leaving Toronto. Arguably Gilmour during his 6 year stint in Toronto went on to be one of the best Maple Leafs of all time. Macoun & Natress went onto be top four de-man for the Leafs, who’s blueline before was woeful at best.

      The second deal between the two teams was last year. Jan 31, 2010 Toronto Maple Leafs traded Nicklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers and Ian White to the Calgary Flames for Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie. White and Mayers have since moved onto San Jose, while Hagman and Stajan have underachieved. Phaneuf has not been spectacular at times but, came on late in 2011. Aulie when it’s all said and done could be the best player of them all, he and Phanuef were the Leafs shutdown tandem in the last half of the season and for years going forward.

Wendel Clark for Mats Sundin

         The Nordiques at the time had an overabundance of scoring and skill, but they needed that extra grit and toughness in their lineup. They had thought Wendel Clark would do just that so they traded Mats Sundin to the Leafs in a deal June 28, 1994. Clark only survived one year in Quebec before getting dealt to the New York Islanders; which did land them Claude Lemiuex. Sundin of course went to play over 1000 games as a Maple Leaf, leading them to 3 conference finals.

Jagr x 2           

      Jaromir Jagr a legitimate hall of famer was traded a couple of times, in both instances, one GM looked foolish .  Jagr was traded from Pittsburgh to Washington for Kris Beech, Ross Lupaschuk & Michael Sivek. The three players at the time looked promising but none of them panned out. A few years later Jagr as then traded to the NY Rangers for overrated forward Anson Carter.

Late Bloomers or stupid trade

       Dan Boyle was once traded from the Florida Panthers to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 5th round draft pick. There is no question Boyle was a key component in the 2004 Stanley Cup championship for the Lightning. When Marc Savard was in the doghouse in Calgary they moved him to the Atlanta Thrashers for Ruslan Zainlullin. Who the hell is Ruslan Zainlullin? Even I cannot answer that question, you think the Flames could have gotten even a 5th rounder for Savard.

       These trades plus others are the worst in NHL history one day soon we’ll revisit some more of these trades.

April19th News & Notes

            NBC & Versus extend NHL TV deal for 10 years            NHL announced today that they signed a brand new 10 year USA tv agreement worth $200 million per season. NBC & Versus now has the first-ever national distribution of all Stanley Cup Playoffs contests, including, exclusive coverage starting with the conference semifinals.

"We have significantly increased the value of the NBC Sports Group with this unprecedented 10-year agreement with the National Hockey League," said Dick Ebersol, chairman, NBC Sports Group.  NBC & Versus networks will see an increase in 50-90 regular season games starting next year.  The biggest TV deal in the States was the ESPN contract 10 years ago, that seen the NHL make $120 million p/y.

Lineup news for elimination game Hawks-Canucks

Daniel and Henrik Sedin will have some company to contend with tonight, as Chicago Blackhawk pest David Bolland makes his series debut. Bolland will be given the task to shutdown the Canucks first line, as his team looks to avoid elimination. Joining Bolland, will be Bryan Bickell and Ryan Johnson, while Jake Dowell and Fernando Pisani are scheduled to sit out. The most controversial absence tonight will be Hawks Blue liner Brent Seabrook whom is likely concussed after a couple of questionable hits by Raffi Torres (and was not suspended). Canucks are making no lineup changes tonight, earlier in the day Alexander Edler was questionable.

                Ian White fine after all returning for game 3

                Despite being injured in game 1, after a hit from behind by Jarret Stoll, Ian White is making a return for game 3. Rookie Justin Braun likely is coming out of the lineup tonight, but there is some talk of the Sharks dressing seven de-men. Stoll who was suspended for his hit on White comes back for game 3, while Oscar Moller comes out tonight.  

                A report out of the San Jose Mercury News might have lit a fire under the LA Kings fans going to tonight’s game. The report suggested the Staples centre crowd as being a library, making it an easy building to play in. After getting spanked in game 2, the Sharks might be asking second butt whooping,

               

Are the Winnipeg Jets coming home?

  by Brandt Corbin 
       Is the inevitable finally happening, are the Phoenix Coyotes coming home to Winnipeg? It's starting to sound very possible and it could be announced within 3 weeks. This came out of no where, this past week the Goldwater Instiute (a tax payer watchdog group in Arizona) keeps getting in the way of the Coyotes being sold. Well this time the NHL has had enough. For the past two seasons, the NHL (who purchased the Coyotes before 09-10 season) have been losing 10's of millions of dollars. They're next move is relocation to Winnipeg, unless the City of Glendale can find an owner and very soon for the Coyotes.
Jets season ticket drive to start soon?
         True North owners Mark Chipman and David Thomson are working out a deal should no owners be found to keep the Coyotes in Phoniex. As soon as next week, reports have it they are going to start a season ticket campaign to gauge support for the imminent return of the Jets. If the response is poor that could hurt the chance of the Jets coming back, possibly opening the door for Quebec City. But the support should be through the roof as many folks have been waiting for the team to return since 1996. One other note, they are said to be looking for multiple year commitments during the season ticket drive.
         Club seats for the Manitoba Moose clubs cost $1744 with an average of $42 p/g, the Jets club seats would be in excess of $6000, which works out to $142 p/g. Will the folks of Winnipeg buck up, atleast they'll have a winner to start off with. Another thing to think about is merchadise sales. If they come up with a new design for jerseys, its not far fetched to say they can sell up to 25,000 jerseys at $100 p/j.
Winnipeg Jets TV
          It's a good thing for the Jets that Rogers Sportsnet introduced Sportsnet One last season. Only reason being you've got Edmonton (Oilers) and Calgary (Flames) in the same region (Sportsnet West) as the Jets. Currently Sportsnet has committed 10 years to Flames & Oilers (58 games per year, per team). A key to the Jets success is a good television deal, one that would see all games being televised. Could a local tv station in Winnipeg step up and televise some games? They would also require a radio deal which is a mortal lock. Capacity at the MTS Centre is around 15,500 a few thousand less than an average NHL arena, so revenue in all area's is vital for the Jets to be successful.
Few other Jet notes         
          There is very few (past) Winnpeg Jets left in the NHL, one of which is Coyotes captain Shane Doan. But would Doan want to return to a colder destination when he's been in warmer location like Phoenix for 14 years? He's married with 3 kids, all of which has been born and raised in Arizona, because of this its not a certainty he'd play going forward if they return to Winnipeg.
          All that matters is that the Jets hopefully very soon will be coming home, where they belong.

Line-up news for games tonight

         Sabres de-man Shaone Morrison is out  for game 2, he is being replaced by minor leaguer Dennis Perrson. Chris Pronger is out for game 2, look for Nik Zheredev to come into the line-up for either Andres Nodl or Daniel Carcillo.
         Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is a gametime decison, he was hospitalzied with dehydration, if he does not play Shane Hnidy will come in. Andrei Kositsyen and Jeff Halpern are gametime decisons, Yanik Weber would play if both are unable to.

April 16th News & Notes

Timeout with 5 seconds left, why?

Some people questioned on why Bruce Bourdeau called a timeout with 5 seconds left in last night’s game. The Caps were up 2-0 with the faceoff in their defensive end. John Torterella sent out Bryan Boyle, Sean Avery and Brandon Prust, Boudreau then called his timeout, only to get Washington’s tough guy John Erskine on the ice. So when it was all said and done, he wanted to be safe rather than sorry, alot of coaches would have done the same thing.

Standards different for every series?

                The Canucks & Capitals series have an anything goes mentality; you can do almost anything and everything and get away with it. The standards for a couple of other series are completely the opposite. Take for an example Nashville and Anaheim some thought game 1 was bad, last night was a joke. Marc Joanette and Francois St. Laurent were calling anything and everything earlier. The worst call of the year was a farcical non goal and on top of that goalie interference penalty on David Legwand. Ray Emery Ducks netminder was outside his crease, Legwand was outside of the crease as well, you can see the puck entering the net, at the same time Legwand’s stick tap Emery’s shoulder.  Then within a span of 2 minutes, two questionable interference calls on for each team. The icing on the cake was a non-call with 5 minutes left; Nashville’s Martin Erat gets but-ended in the mouth losing 3-4 teeth and no call?
                What’s the difference between the series? The Ducks-Predators, Penguins-Lightning series have had a combined 41 power plays, Canucks-Hawks; Caps-Rangers have had 16 power plays. Trust me on this one, there is not that much difference in the physicality in the series, if anything the ladder have been more physical.   

There is a first time for everything

                For the first time in NHL history, only 2 games will be played between Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay next week. Would it be the NHL scheduling it so Sidney Crosby could come back later in the series? Curious to know why else they would not be playing a game every second night, like every other team.

April 15th, News & Notes

Two Road Wins, two shutouts

Going into their first round series, it was not a far stretch to say the Canadiens & Sabres were not huge underdogs and mainly for two reasons. One is Carey Price. Second being Ryan Miller, both of which would be acknowledged as top ten goalies. Both proved their worth last night, especially in the 2^nd periods where they collectively stopped 36 shots.  While it was not an easy night at the office, look for both the Flyers and Bruins to get allot more traffic for both goalies for game 2 and the rest of the series. It’s no hidden secret, less traffic makes it that much easier of a night.

TSN “The Sharks Network”

                Was it just me or did last night’s Kings-Sharks telecast not seem like a San Jose Shark broadcast? It was TSN’s Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro broadcasting the game, but it became painfully obvious as the game went on who they’d rather see win. Numerous times they pointed out the Sharks 6- 1 win over LA a few weeks ago.  As the game was going on, they kept reminding the viewers of the shots on goal favouring SJ of course. During the first intermission and after the game “the panel” was lobbying their best for Jarret Stoll to be suspended for him hit from behind on Ian White. No penalty was called on the play, and if Ian White was not hurt it would not be talked about today.

Possible line-up changes for games 2 tonight

                Sounds like Ryan Johnson should fine to play tonight for the Chicago Blackhawks, with Tomas Kopecky being questionable. Fernado Pisani would play if Kopecky is unable to suit up. David Bolland (concussion) will not play in game 2 tonight. The Ducks will likely make a few line-up changes, Ray Emery will start game 2, look for George Parros to come out for Dan Sexton, Josh Green or Kyle Chipcura.

                You hope that Hawks, Rangers, Ducks and Lightning would step it up a notch for game 2. Its maybe not must win, but pretty dam close to it, game should be more tightly contested tonight.

If there was a do over

                Knowing what we know now, how many teams would like do over for the moves they made at the deadline? Would the Dallas Stars be more open to moving Brad Richards? Would the Penguins still want to acquire Alexei Kovalev? The biggest mistake made so far has been Dustin Penner for the LA Kings. In his 18 games for the Kings, he’s managed to score 2 goals (goalless in 13 games). It’s been so bad last night (game 1) vs Sharks, Penner was demoted to the fourth line with Trevor Lewis and Kevin Westgarth.  If Anze Kopitar was healthy would Penner be a healthy scratch?

Luongo should have been a Flames, if not for Valeri Bure

                I felt like a kid in a candy store. It was June 23, 2000, Calgary Alberta for the NHL expansion draft & entry draft. I was a 23-year-old sports writer, mixed in with the who’s who of hockey. Whether I was sitting behind the great Bryan Kilrea, or conducting an interview with Calgary Flames GM Craig Button with Bruce Dowbiggin.

            I was in cowtown covering a local hockey product by the name of Jarret Stoll, at the time Stoll was projected to go in the middle-late 1rst rounder. I used Stoll being drafted as an excuse to go, and imagine my surprise when the NHL accepted my application for media access.  Stoll was eventually drafted by the Calgary Flames 46^th overall, but 2 years later reentered the draft after not being signed by the Flames.

                Day 1 of the draft was the expansion draft where the Minnesota Wild & Atlanta Thrashers picked their unclaimed players. Got my nervousness out of the way that day and got me primed and ready to go for day 2 and oh what a day it would be.

Isles GM Mike Milbury stole the show on 24^th.

It was day 2 when business picked up. Mike Milbury (then Islanders GM) made it known to anyone and everyone that former first rounder Roberto Luongo was available, mainly because he was going to draft Rick Dipetro first overall. Rumors were going around of several teams were in the mix to grab Luongo only 21-years-old then. The big rumor going around was the Calgary Flames were going to step and finally grab their “franchise goalie”.

                Nobody was surprised as the draft starts that commissioner Gary Betman “has a trade to announce”.  He then said the New York Islanders trade Roberto Luongo & with forward Olli Jokinen to the Florida Panthers in exchange for wingers Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha. Everyone was shocked first that he got back as little as he did, and that the Panthers stepped up and managed to pull this trade off. Can you imagine how bad Florida would have been if they did not make this trade. Luongo was rock solid for six seasons in Florida, Jokinen scored 188 goals in 7 seasons including (4 – 30 goal season).  On the other hand Kvasha was a bust, scoring 51 goals in 4 seasons with the Islanders; Parrish was more productive scoring 118 goals in 5 seasons. Dipetro was taken first, in front of Dany Heatley & Marian Gaborik.

                When I spoke with Button after draft, he did say he was involved in trade discussions with Milbury. He then said he would not move 1 player that Milbury insisted be a part of the deal. That player that Button would not part with was Valeri Bure. Can one imagine what could have happened if the Luongo had been dealt to the Flames, unreal. One year later to the day, Button traded Bure & Jason Wiemer to Florida for Rob Niedermayer and a 2^nd round draft pick (Andrei Medvedev).

                On June 24^th, 2000 Milbury made two other moves, in hopes to reshape his struggling team. He traded former first round picks Eric Brewer, Josh Green & 2^nd rounder (Brad Winchester) for Roman Hamirlik. He then traded Kevin Weekes, Kristian Kudroc & another 2^nd rounder for Tampa Bay’s 5^th overall pick (Raffi Torres). Neither of these moves proved to make a difference, if anything set them back a year or two.

                Those moves are the very reason how 1 general managers poor decisions can stall the growth of an organization.  What could have occurred if the Islanders kept Luongo, Jokinen and Brewer, might they be a steady team making the playoffs more frequently?  Subsequently neither Milbury nor Button has been hired for a GM’s job since then.

Late night notes

       Just got done watching 3 games tonight. Vancouver looked great in the first period, Capitals played an aggressive style game. Nashville looked impressive, made Dan Ellis look very bad. In Tampa-Pittsburgh, minutes into game Orpik hammered Stamkos, not surprising to see Stamkos quite the rest of the night.
       Officiating left a lot to desire tonight. Matt Belesky (Ducks) gets called for boarding 5 minutes into the first period, minutes into the second period a Duck gets driven directly from behind, with no call. The refs in that game did not control game very well in last 10 minutes, they got very lucky it did not get really nasty.
       Brent Seabrook gets an interference call after hitting Daniel Sedin 2 seconds after moving the puck, yet the Canucks did the same thing 10-12 times, yet no calls? Minutes into the game Henrik Sedin drives himself into Corey Crawford with no call. Then 2 minutes left Troy Brouwer throws Kevin Bieksa into Roberto Luongo, and Brouwer gets called.
       In the Detroit game, its 2-1 Red Wings, Coyotes hemmed in their own zone killing a penalty, Lauri Korpkoski (PHO) gets tackled, seconds later Wings make it 3-1.
       My beef is this, every game there is a different standard. That makes it unpreditcable, you're not going to be sure if it will be specialty team affair, or everything goes.
       Lineup changes for game 2
       Hawks likely will be missing Ryan Johnson and Tomas Kopecky for game 2. Both Ben Smith & Victor Stallberg were average at best for Chicago. How many lineup changes can they make? Fernado Pisani will  play game 2, David Bolland remains a question mark. Other options would be Markus Kruger worst case sceniaros would be John Scott or Jeff Taffe. If the the officitating standards remain the same, the Hawks might consider calling up Kyle Beach, a rookie forward who plays with a nasty edge, something they dearly miss and need.
       For the Ducks, George Parros likely will sit out game 2, he might have played 5 or 6 shifts. Matt Belesky will get 1 last chance he took 2 minor penalties in the first 8 minutes of game 1. Kyle Chipura, Dan Sexton or Josh Green could be inserted into the lineup.
      The Corby Hockey Central mortal lock is..... Ray Emery will start game 2 on Friday. Ellis was very average and the ball is now in Emery's court.

Line-up news, who's a healthy scratch and/or injured

NYR> Sean Avery as predicted (early in Caps-Rangers preview) will a healthy scratch for game 1

DET>Reports out of Detroit, say Mike Modano will be a healthy scratch for game 1. Also Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg will miss game 1, and somewhat questionable whether he'll be ready for round 1.

PHI> Reports indicate Chris Pronger will miss atleast game 1.

PIT> Mike Comrie and Eric Godard will be healthy scratches for game 1.

NSH> Martin Erat is probable for game 1 tonight versus

WSH> Mike Green has declared himself ready for tonight.

CHI>  Hawks winger Troy Brouwer is probable with a bad shoulder

Habs-B's round 1 preview

   by Brandt Corbin     

           Although they will not admit it, some of the Montreal Canadiens did want to meet the Boston Bruins in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.  These storied franchises are complete opposites if ever there was one. You’ve got the big bad Bruins, led by Milan Lucic & Zdeno Chara. Then there is the Habs a very small, softer team with limited aggression to go to battle with Boston. So the Habs will try and make it a speedy, transition series hoping to capitalize on the power play, while the Bruins will try and make it as nasty as possible in hopes of scaring the Canadiens.

                February 9^th, the two teams played in Boston. It was obvious on what was the Bruins game plan right off the bat. They hammered Montreal left right and center, near the end of the first period, Lucic was in Carey Price’s crease and then punched him in the head. Five minutes into the second period, a line brawl broke out, in which Price fought Bruins netminder Tim Thomas. A 5 on 5 line brawl then occurred with seconds left in the third period. Just over 1 month later was the Max Pacioretty incident, in which Bruins captain Zdeno Chara shoved the Hab into the turnbuckle, breaking his vertebra and giving him a concussion. So one can see why this series could get tense, eventually the tempers will boil over.  Despite insisting they didn’t require more toughness will the Habs now regret that decision?

                Goaltending is very even, despite Thomas being a runaway winner for the Vezina trophy, (league’s best goalie). Price is more than capable himself despite not having much playoff success himself.  This will be a see-saw battle, whoever steps up and makes the big save at the right time will be the winner.

                Injuries will play a factor as well, Montreal has 3 de-man out, Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges are out for the season, while Alexander Picard is day to day. Jeff Halpern is not 100% but should be ready for game 1; Pacioretty is likely not playing anytime soon.  Marc Savard is the only Boston player out; he has a concussion and is done for the year.

                Statically the series favors the Bruins, their number 1 line of Lucic, Nathan Horton & David Krejci have combined for 6 goals and 15 assists in the last 3 games versus the Habs. On Feb 9^th, the line of Scott Gomez, Lars Elller & Andrei Kosistysen where each -4, that is with the trio only playing an average of 11 minutes that game.  But yet the Habs won the season series 4-2.

                When it’s all said and done, if the Bruins insist on making this a backyard brawl, they better hope they can kill every other penalty they will take. That being said they do have 3 scoring lines, with one of the best 4^th lines in hockey.  Montreal can counter with 2 lines, but one of them will need to do with Chara night in night out.

                My prediction is 6 games for Boston; they will split in bean-town, split in Montreal, with Boston winning games 5 and 6.