Open Ice Hitter is now on facebook as Open Ice Hitter - Pure Hockey Star Pheonix blog link : http://communities.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/blogs/openicehitter/ HITS OF THE DAY
Feb 2 - Dion Phaneuf clearly got the message that he needs to re-assert himself in the NHL as an elite level player. He answered by smashing his knuckles into the mush of Colin White.... for Phaneuf to be effective, he has to be an intimidating presence on the ice. That means taking runs at the other teams top players, like he did to Zach Parise, and dropping the gloves more often. With the Flames, he seemed to have been re-focused more on staying out of the penalty box. He is at his best when the other team consider him to be a ticking time bomb... - Quirkiest stat going : Antero Nittymaki has never lost against the Atlanta Thrashers... his career record is 16-0 against the Georgian Peaches.... - Jaro Halak continues to make the idea of trading him look like a dumb idea, as he makes 40 plus saves in leading the Habs to a victory over the Canucks. Why would the Habs trade this guy? He is far and away their best goalie. Is this one of those foolish cases of big brass tunnel vision, where they will not accept the fact that a prospect has not worked out, and they try their utmost to make the player succeed, to the detriment of the team... Luongo was subpar for the Canucks, but if you look closely at his career, Luongo actually has a well documented history of laying eggs.. - The Avalanche pummel the BlueJackets..... If Ken Hitchcock misses the playoffs, then he will be shown the door. Biggest problem for the Columbus team has been the bad year Steve Mason is having... - Gnarly fall Mike Cammaleri had, but that is what often happens to those that get in the way of Anton Volchenkov.... the dimunitive sniper was run over by the Sens d-man, and fell in a knee twisting fashion into the boards... hard luck run for the Habs, but hey, when most of your forwards are that small, they are going to get hurt.. Feb 1 - The best laid plans of Darryl Sutter don’t pan out, so after Olli Jokinen fails to sink the Flyers, Sutter follows through on a deal that sends Jokinen to the New York Rangers. This is a bizarre story, as Jokinen was aware that he was going to be dealt before the game.... the league might want to look into this, but likely won’t, as they don’t even seem to care about referees altering the course of games. For those out of the loop, Jokinen has scored timely goals against Philly over the past few seasons, including 2 in his Flames debut last year...... Sutter is making huge moves in the Alberta Foothills to try and meet expectations. Not sure how Ales Kotalik will help this.....or Chris Higgins. As for the huge expectations of Jay Bouwmeester, the big smooth skating blueliner seems to have settled into a role as a steady defenseman, but is not likely to turn into the game controlling presence many hockey observers thought he might one day become... One has to wonder what kind of pressure Darryl Sutter is under. The Flames were expected to be a force, Brent Sutter was brought in to coach the team, many peices seemed to be in place.... - The emergence of Sid Crosby as a goal scorer has increased his impact on the game. Like Gretzky in the 1980’s, Crosby has become a player that can bury the puck himself, or set up a team mate. This makes him a bigger threat when he is on the ice. Just ask Ryan Miller, who was scorched for three goals by Crosby last night..... all that big goal equipment on skinny little Ryan Miller, and Crosby just picked the corners... - Just when the Carolina Hurricanes looked to be turning the corner, they lose to the Oilers. Cam Ward was poor in this game, with his oversize equipment used by the Oilers to bank in 2 goals.... For Edmonton, Gilbert Brule scores again. Where was this kid last year? Oh yeah, the AHL. Why was that ? Because Craig MacTavish is such a good coach and judge of talent......ahem, ahem, gag, gag..... Funny how the Flames are getting a total makeover, and the Oilers are just twiddling their thumbs. If the Oil want to get started in the right direction, jettison Sam “ Twerp “ Gagner while some sucker still thinks the kid will be able to play at the NHL level. Get rid of Ethan Moreau. Send Shawn Horcoff to the AHL as punishment for having a greedy agent procure him a contract he never deserved. Ditto for Fernando Pisani. Trade Tom Gilbert, not Visnovsky or Souray. Gilbert is soft. Trade Steve Staios. He has been with the Oil too long, which is only a bad thing because most of his time in Edmonton has involved losing. That makes him a loser. And the master stroke, get rid of Kevin Lowe, who has made poor decisions time after time... Jan 31 - Gotta like Marian Gaborik... up to his usual tricks, like scoring goals, and not afraid to try new things, like dropping the mitts for a scrap. Gaborik bagged three goals, all of the Rangers offense, as the Broadway Blueshirts tip Colorado. Gaborik has been an enigmatic player up to this season, dating back to his time playing amateur hockey in Slovakia. Questions were raised then about his abilities when playing full time against the best players in the world, at the NHL level. He answered that during his time with Minnesota, but was unable to stay healthy. So far in New York, he has been able to stay in the lineup, with the exception of a few games, and has shown that he is indeed in the same class as premier snipers Ovechkin, Kovalchuk and Heatley. - Giguere to the Leafs was not a real shocker, and had been on the rumour mill for a while, but Dion Phaneuf to the Leafs had not been posted on any of the sites I look at. These trades should be a good wake up smack for all the smug bloggers who had been claiming things like. “ That guy is untradeable because of his contract “ or “ Big trades don’t happen mid season anymore because of the salary cap”...... maybe they don’t happen very often, but it appears as though a real doozer just went down, followed by another significant deal, with the Flames supposedly ready to jettison Olli Jokinen... - One more sign that the LA Kings are for real : They beat the New Jersey Devils.... if ever there has been an over achieving good luck gang in the NHL over the last 15 – 20 years, it has been the Devils. They win when they shouldn’t. So for the Kings to tip them in Jersey can be used as a marker of how far the Kings have progressed as a contender... Jan 30 - Fight of the Night : Flames captain Jarome Iginla squares off against Oilers blueliner Sheldon Souray. Awesome!! Actual star players scrapping !!! And what a scrap, too. These guys were chucking some weighted bombs in a great back and forth tilt. The fight ended up looking like a draw, though Souray busted a paw in the tilt.... - Goal of the Night : Got to go with the Alex Burrows short hander, a nice break away goal on the Leafs Vesa Toskala, with Burrows using a classic deke to the backhand, going high with a nice shot after cutting in front of the soon to be former Leafs goalie... - Roberto Luongo gets chased by the Leafs, as the Canucks fall behind 3-0, only to come back and defeat the inept Toronto team 5-3. Is Luongo all that ? No. He is over rated, and Canadian hockey fans need to hope that Luongo does not see the ice during the Olympics... as for the Leafs, well, Open Ice Hitter will maintain that Leafs GM Brian Burke is also over rated, and not the right person to rebuild the Leafs... - Battle of Alberta separated a slumping team from a bad team as the Flames pummelled Edmonton 6 – 1. Aside from fighting Sheldon Souray, Iginla had a 2 goal, 2 assist game, and his team won. For the Oilers, Sam “ Twerp “ Gagner scored a goal, and as usual, acted like he was the greatest. Twerp, your team lost. Gagner’s measure of impact on the game can be described like this : He collects his few paltry points when the Oil are in horrid losing spells.... - Fight of the Night 2 : One dimensional pugilist Colton Orr drops the mitts with Canucks light heavyweight disturber / policeman Darcy Hordichuk. These guys were swinging for the fences, with Orr getting a bloodied mush for his troubles. Hordichuk stood in a went toe to toe with the Leafs big bodied goon... Jan 29 - Mike Green gets 3 games for a blatant elbow to the head of Florida’s Michael Frolik.... interesting move on the part of Green, who, contrary to popular opinion, does throw his weight around from time to time. Green later took a hit from teenager Dmitry Kulikov that was described as knee on knee, though that is total bs. Kulikov stood Green up at the blueline, nothing cheap about it.... Jan 27 - In a scene that could have fit right into the movie “Slapshot”, as they drop the gloves and square off, Dallas Stars d-man Mark Fistric pulls the helmet off of the head of Calgary Flames’ Eric Nystrom, then swings the helmet and clobbers Nystrom with it.... hilarious, but kind of a bad move. Hope Nystrom is okay, and would almost bet that some laughs are being had over this wacky moment... - Wake Up Don Waddell, if you want to get anything back for Ilya Kovalchuk, you are going to have to let teams talk contract with him before making a deal. Wake Up Don Waddell, you have yet to make a good trade. Waddell is one of the most inept General Managers of the past decade, worse even than Oilers big wig Kevin Lowe, as Waddell has actually had a Mike Milbury style destructive influence on his team. At one point a few seasons back, the Thrashers looked poised to become a perennial playoff team, but poor decisions from Waddell, meaning awful trades, have gutted the team. Heatley, Hossa, Braydon Coburn, all gone with little in return, soon Kovalchuk will exit, and it is a very real possibility that he will sound the death knell of the franchise when he leaves... - What a fun place the Habs locker room must be these days.....Scott Gomez getting beat up, down and around by teenager Victor Hedman, Andrei Markov rightly criticizing Carey Price, though it reportedly caused a fracas in the room, and the team is boneheadedly considering the trade of its top goalie Jaro Halak. Bob Gainey went with a soft roster of small players, his worst move the trade for Gomez, a player on pace for about 50 points, and 12 goals, for a cool $7 plus million. After fluking off a first place finish in the spring of ’08, and subsequently getting demolished by the Flyers in the playoffs, the Habs slipped to 8th last year, were very lucky to get into the playoffs, and then got annilated by Boston.....probably as good a time as any to clean house, trade Price ( so the kid can salvage his career ), send Gomez to the minors where he might be able to be a #1 center, and the best move this team could make.....name a captain, like Travis Moen... - What is up with the Flames??? Talk about how bad the Oilers are, that is understandable. The Flames however, have some high end talent, and guys like Rene Bourque and Curtis Glencross should be able to approach 20 goals... To start with, Dion Phaneuf has not been the same player since his Norris nomination. Maybe he needs a change of scenery.... Jan 26 - Watching Chicago and the Oilers last night was like watching midgets play peewees..... the Hawks did as they pleased, dominating the play, and there wasn’t anything the Oilers could do about it. As much as Chicago looked to be the better team, the Oilers looked like a team that has thrown in the towel..... - The meteoric rise of Nino Neiderreiter continues, as he is now being mentioned as a Top 10 pick for the summer entry draft, according to TSN and Bob McKenzie. And why not? Neiderreiter showed up a lot of high draft picks at the WJC, and is having a solid season in the dub with the Portland WinterHawks. He is a big body, offensively gifted power forward with a penchant for scoring when the stakes are high, ie:, the WJC, the Top Prospects game.... - Interesting to hear Peter Meuller’s name being thrown about in the rumor mill as a player that could be on the move. The former Everett Silvertip entered the NHL with great expectations, and had a decent start to his career, but has been a nowhere man this year. Fellow Coyote bluechippers Kyle Turris and Mikkael Boedker, meanwhile are having non descript seasons in the AHL. What makes this really interesting is the fact the the Coyotes are having a good season without 3 players that seemed to be important peices to a change in fortunes for the desert dawgs... Jan 25 - Patrice Cormier and the Rouyn Noranda Huskies look bad, very bad, after the news conference the team called following Cormier’s deserved suspension for the remainder of the year. What is Cormier thinking when he speaks of the suspension being too harsh? The public outcry has been almost unanimously against him, hockey analysts are nearly all in favour of Cormier having a long sit down, and the kid he nailed in the jaw with his elbow was only a short time ago laying on the ice in convulsions. This kid Cormier has taken the fast track from being a respected hockey player ( captain of the WJC Canada entry gets you that ) to being looked upon as a total clown, and a goon. The classy act would have been to take the suspension, and go quietly into the offseason, and prepare for a redeeming season next fall. To protest the surprising ( and correct ) decision from the Q makes Cormier look selfish, like a spoiled athlete.... Jan 23 - If Bob McKenzie is on the record saying that he believes Ilya Kovalchuk will be traded , then that is likely what is going to happen. The legendary analyst doesn’t make a spectacle / sideshow of himself the way McGuire does, instead McKenzie is a very matter of fact and straightshooting analyst. He has been in the hockey media for as long as I can remember ( back to the early 1980’s ), and knows everyone in the world of hockey. If he thinks the Thrashers are going to deal Kovalchuk, then it will be interesting to see where the Russian supersniper winds up. McKenzie is speculating about Calgary and Chicago. Of the 2 cities, the Flames would benefit the most from this deal, as their lack of scoring punch is killing them right now. And boy, oh , boy, does Kovalchuk bring scoring punch. The Flames are steeped in solid defenseman and 2 way players to deal, so keep on eye on this..... - Okay, Sam “ Twerp “ Gagner has been on the scoresheet a bit lately...... the first time since the last 2 months of his rookie season, which, coincidently, was another awful run for the Oilers, similar to now, when the team was a doormat, and hardly won any games. The point here is, some folks may get excited that the kid is actually a legit NHL scorer. But much like his rookie season, which culminated with the idiotic decision to include him on the World Championship team for Canada, Twerp is getting big ice time, and having an easy go of it, while his team gets clobbered. You want an example of a young player who put up big numbers and helped transform his team from a laughingstock to a Stanley Cup winner? Check out the early career of Joe Sakic, who recorded back to back 100 point seasons on a last place team. Sakic was able to make his team win via his scoring. Twerp Gagner seems to be an opportunist who scores when it is meaningless to his team, and contributes nothing when the team is counting on him.... Jan 22 - Big time performance from new Carolina Hurricane captain Eric Staal, scoring a hat trick as the Hurricanes beat the Atlanta Thrashers. Naming Staal captain was the right move for the team, though it is likely hard for Rod Brind’Amour. Rod the Bod is not the same player he was 10 years ago, and was even in decline during the Hurricanes Stanley Cup season. It is time for Staal to take full control of this team... - Fight of the Night : Dan Carcillo pummels Rangers sniper Marian Gaborik. Yes, that is right. Gaborik, in a very ill advised move, dropped the mitts in a scrum when Carcillo singled out the Slovak star, giving Carcillo carte blanche to land some wicked punches to the chops of #10 in white and blue. Rangers coach John Tortorella was incensed at this development, but his wrath would have been better directed at his players, notably Dan Girardi, who stood close by and watched the team’s best player get manhandled by Philly’s most notorious player.... - Fight of the Night 2 : Scott Hartnell pummels Sean Avery. Though Hartnell is not exactly beloved around the league, this tilt would have been cheered on by most fans and players, as the guy with the red hair afro landed a few heavy shots to Avery’s noggin in a real hockey scrap between 2 full time players... - David Branch has confirmed what we all suspected... the name on the back of the jersey determines the length of the suspension a player receives when he inflicts uncalled for violence on another player. Zack Kassian gets off easy with a 20 game suspension for a hit that was meant to lay out the opponent, who did not even have the puck. Mike Liambis gets a lifetime ban for a good hit on the forecheck. Guess which guy is the big name NHL first round draft pick....... - The Habs are in a bad way, with pet project Carey Price failing to live up to unrealistic expectations, Mike Cammaleri running his yap at team mates during practice, and cutting ties with enforcer Georges Laraque... all while Scott Gomez cashes in his millions in return for pathetic performance. Bob Gainey’s experiment with soft and small players has been a complete disaster, and why have they not named Travis Moen as the captain? If they are waiting for Scott Gomez to grab the role, they had better wake up, and Gionta or Cammaleri do not command the respect of their opponents in a way that a captain needs to Jan 21 - Hit of the Night : Shift disturber Cam Janssen runs over Carey Price, as Price was way out of his net to play the puck. Price dropped his gloves, but chickened out when it was time to scrap. Ditto for the rest of the Canadiens line up, as they demonstrate that they are still a soft team that can easily be pushed around.... - Goal of the Night : From the same game, Andy MacDonald wins it in overtime with an awesome wrist shot that beat Carey Price high to the blocker side from the top of the off wing circle.... it was a wicked shot, and highlited Price’s lack of reflexes.... the fact that the Habs are shopping the better goaltender, who wins for them, Jaro Halak, is stupefying. Price entered the league with great expectations, and has not even been an average goalie. To deal Halak could end up being a trade similar to the Blackhawks trading Dominik Hasek, or the Sharks trading Kiprusoff - A true star goalie at it again, Marty Brodeur collects another shutout as New Jersey continue with their improbable run through the regular season. Brodeur should be an instant inclusion to the Hall of Fame whenever he retires, and remember, he is the best goalie of his generation, besting Dominik Hasek.... Jan 20 - Nightrider, Nino Neiderreiter, scores once in the low scoring Top Prospects game, again showcasing his about to put the puck in the net when the stakes are high. Somebody is going to get a steal between picks 5 and 10 of the first round.... - Georges Laraque done as a Hab.... not too surprising, and maybe it is time for Big Georges to move on. The slugger was never really able to nail down a spot as a regular player, despite decent ability to control the puck along the boards. By all accounts a class act off the ice, Laraque’s character has never come up, but the role of the one dimensional fighter is definitely under debate - If Patrice Cormier is not kicked out of the QMJHL for the duration of his eligibility, the league loses all credibility. The blatant elbow is as dirty a shot as I have ever seen, and can only be meant to hurt the opponent. Compared to the measuring stick – Michael Liambis ( a clean hit and over reaction by Dave Branch via mega suspension ), anything less than finishing the junior career of Cormier is a double standard, and offers further proof that the name on the back of the jersey determines the suspension.... - Yes, the Oilers are awful, and they blew another game and late lead against the Canucks, but to fire Pat Quinn would be wrong. Quinn is working with a poor cast, thanks to Kevin Lowe. A bunch of pint sized softies and slackers, a couple of muckers with humungous contracts, and no goalies to speak of. Who exactly would be able to win with this team ? And somehow, Kevin Lowe holds onto his job.... Jan 19 - Shocker of the Night : Rangers score 8 goals in one game..... Marian Gaborik has been awesome on Broadway, a true scoring threat and treat to watch, but who would have guessed at the Blueshirts scoring 8 in a single game??? For their sake, I hope they didn’t just use up a months supply of goals.... - Travelling through Edmonton, listening to the Team sports radio, everyone is dumping on the Oilers team, or to be specific, the players. The talk show hosts, the fans, all choked at the pathetic performance of the Oilers. Not one good thing said about the team.... you know you are awful when no fans come to your defence..... you know you are awful when your fans want you to lose for the rest of the year so you can get a high draft choice.... Jan 14 - Love the Bruins win over the Sharks..... this is what Boston needs, to beat the top teams, get some of their swagger back. A tough team versus a team split between prima donnas and grinders, as the Sharks don’t have well rounded players like the Bruins do. Boston feature a line up of guys that can bang and score, while the Sharks have a lineup of guys that can only do one or the other.... Who would you rather have in goal. Tim Thomas or Nabokov ? Easy choice, take the guy who loves cheeseburgers and has a big heart.... - The Leafs break the 40 point barrier with a 4-0 embarrassment of the Flyers, as Philly continue to drop games against inferior opponents. - It is only a matter of time before Randy Carlyle loses his job in Anaheim, and if Bob Murray is smart, he will move defenseman Scott Neidermeyer for some prospects and do what is best for that team... Neidermeyer has been handed far more consideration by the Ducks than he gave them when he sat out half a season, a move that was helpful in no way for the Ducks.... - If this is a season of transition for the Red Wings, what happens next year when Nik Lidstrom retires? The Wings have Zetterberg and Datsyuk, and possibly Franzen, though Franzen has not put up good numbers for enough years to be counted on consistently. Are we seeing the decline of the Red Wing dynasty ? Was it a mistake for Ken Holland not to bring in a real goalie ? Has the magic of using journeymen and retreads finally run out for Ken Holland ??? Jan 13 - Sid Crosby fires goal number 30 as the Pens top Calgary during a rare trip through Western Canada. Crosby should score close to 50 goals this season, which will elevate the impact he has on the game from his past few seasons where he seemed more intent on being the playmaker. To this date, the players who had the ultimate impact on the game offensively have been those that can both set up and finish goals themselves, as was done by Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Gretzky and Lemieux, whose seasons of greatest impact are reflected by awesome numbers under both the big G and the big A...... - The NHL has no trouble burying its head in the sand and pretending it has no problems.... led by the bumbling Colin Campbell, who is one of the league’s biggest problems himself. The company line here continues to be that NHL refs are actually the most fabulous characters on the planet, and don’t even suggest they are less than perfect. Problem is, with so much media coverage, and a continuing rise in education levels of average Jane and Joe, people don’t get fooled quite as easily anymore. It would be nice to see the NHL set its goal as getting the calls right, and promoting the integrity of the game - Not the biggest Brian Burke fan going, but I like that he is giving Ron Wilson the time to try and coach the Leafs out of their losing ways. First step is to bring in some better personnel, which Burke is trying to do, successfully or not so much, and after that, a decent evaluation of the coach can be done...... One move Burke may want to make is dealing Nazem Kadri to the Senators. After taunting the Sens on draft day, then selecting the London Knight forward, Burke could complete the buffalo job on Ottawa by sending them a player that Open Ice Hitter is labelling as a bust- to- be - Mike Brophy has always been a bit off, but his latest musings, that Kovie and Ovie could both be playing in Russia’s KHL next year, are totally whacked. The two Russian goal scorers will make far more cash in the relatively secure financial world of the NHL as opposed to the KHL..... Jan 11 - Yee Haw, open season on the four blind bats, thanks to Alex Burrows.... one of my favourite gripes is the poor, poor level of officiating. Now we have a situation that can’t be ignored, with a doofus ( Auger ) threatening a player with calls even before the game starts, then making a few calls on the player, possibly affecting the outcome of the game. Julie Young, spokesperson for the NHL, says the situation is being reviewed, but that the league has no plans to improve the quality of officiating, so get used to this kind of circus.... and don’t think is kind of crap has not been going on for years. Just look at some of the dubious decisions that Colin Campbell hands down... - Classic showdown on the West Coast, with the Sharks topping the up and coming Kings 2 – 1... bash hockey in the sun all you want, but the game has roots now, as evidenced by the number of kids out of Texas ( Tyler Myers ) and California ( Emerson Etem ) who are legit players / prospects..... to scan a WHL roster is to find kids from the southern US states. This was not the case 20 years ago.... hockey is a great game, in my humble opinion, it is the best game, a combination of unique skills like skating and the use of a hockey stick, strategy in a team setting, and physical prowess. But for those who haven’t played the game or had exposure to the joys of frozen rubber and ice, they are not always going to embrace the game, or it may take time. What has to be stressed to the uninitiated is the combination of skills required, and that toughness is an attribute, in many ways, far beyond anything that will ever be witnessed on a baseball diamond or basketball court... - Former Notre Dame Hound Curtis Joseph hangs ‘em up.... CuJo is commonly remembered as a Leaf, but may have had his greatest games with the Oilers, when they were upsetting the Dallas Stars, or as a St Loius Blue. The Blues were poised for great things in the ‘90’s, but never realized their promise. Hull & Oates, Scott Stevens, Rod Brind’Amour, Chris Pronger, and of course, Gretzky, all toiled in St Lou with CuJo, but despite his efforts, the team couldn’t break through. A great story that says a lot about the failure of both CuJo and the Flyers to win the Cup in the late ‘90s and early millennium the one that recounts CuJo wearing a Flyers jersey on July 1, free agent day, in anticipation of signing in Philly. When his agent called, Joseph was supposedly ready to tell him to take the deal. Instead, CuJo’s agent had to inform Joseph of Bob Clarke’s ill advised decision to sign John Vanbiesbrouck.... CuJo would sign with the Leafs, and give Toronto several years of solid goaltending, but never did raise the cherished silver chalice.... Jan 10 - Mathieu Garon is the right man at the right place at the right, and the southpaw flavour of the year in Columbus, covering for the struggling Steve Mason. The Jackets shutout Dallas 2 – 0... interesting note regarding the Blue Jackets : Nikita Filatov was a non factor during Team Russia games held in Saskatoon, and was stripped of his captaincy for the 5/6 placing game versus Finland... - Can’t wait to see where the Nightrider, or El Nino, Nino Neiderreiter, sits in the upcoming mid season draft eligible player rankings... Neiderreiter was a huge story at the WJC, eclipsed only by Jordan Eberle. To recap, El Nino scored equally huge clutch goals, imposed himself physically, showed up in all areas of the rink, then headed back to the WHL’s Portland WinterHawks, where he is leading the team in goal scoring as a 17 year old rookie..... he should go in the top 10 picks, and don’t be surprised if he is a top 5 pick. The big winger played head to head with the likes of high draft picks Nazem Kadri and Brayden Schenn, NHL experienced Filatov, and guess who looked the best ??? Yep, it was the Swiss kid, who didn’t back down from any of the rough stuff, and made Kadri look like an idiot - Trying to figure out Henrik Sedin, and his average of almost 1.4 points per game.... credit to the twin, never did I think he would play at this level. And Marian Gaborik ? Always electric, but frail, he has managed to stay healthy, and is on pace to set a career mark for goals, if, if, if, he doesn’t go down with an injury..... Patrick Marleau ? Stripped of the big C in San Jose, the farm kid from Aneroid, SK rebounds and shows that he can step up, leading the league in tallies, and getting himself named to the Olympic team..... - Speaking of Marleau. Who remembers the hit he put on current team mate Joe Thornton when they squared off in the prospects game all those years ago???? Jan 9- - The captain’s C looks great on the front of Ovechkin’s jersey... effort and determination often decide who wears the C, and if you add in contribution to team success, Ovechkin is the best choice. In a showdown with Russian counterpart and Thrasher captain Ilya Kovalchuk, Ovie’s Caps hammered Atlanta 8 – 1..... - The supposedly promising Flyers are showing some signs of life, with 7 wins in their last 10 games, but it is going to take a long stretch of consistent play to get back in the elite category, and to convince the sceptics that this team has a shot at Lord Stanley’s silver mug....... as for the Jeff Carter trade rumors, if Paul Holmgren trades Carter, it nullifies all the good moves he has made. It is only a matter of time ( like next season ) until Carter becomes a perennial 50 goal scorer - The Kings are falling out of the Western Conference playoff picture after a great start to the season, but keep in mind, this team will be at it’s best next year, and injuries have cost them key players...don’t be disappointed if they miss the playoffs, look at them as a team on the rise.... - Carolina, Edmonton and Toronto picking in the top 3 slots of the upcoming entry draft?? Not Gonna happen, not after Brian Burke dealt the Leafs top pick to Boston. So it looks very likely that the Bruins have a good shot at Taylor Hall, along with the Canes and Oilers. Of all possible destinations, Hall would have the biggest impact in Edmonton. Thankfully Craig MacTavish is no longer the coach.... Jan 8 - Haven’t heard much fallout regarding Craig MacTavish coaching Canada to last place in the Spengler Cup....when do the powers that be realize the MacTavish is not cut out to be a head coach, but more suited to a role as a good penalty kill / special teams coach??? - Burn out of the year, or sophomore jinx, definitely goes to Steve Mason. Mason looked great as a rookie, poised and successful, but can’t win or stop beach balls this year.... - No matter how many goals he scores, or how much success the Dallas Stars find, James Neal will always be the cheap shot artist who got off easy for a brutal and dirty hit to the back of the head on Derek Dorsett. Of course, Colin Campbell is oblivious to all of this..., just the way he was to Barret Jackman punching a player in the face, and Duncan Keith blindsiding a player with a dirty hit away from the play..... Jan 5 - Jubilation for the US WJC entry as they stun Team Canada and it’s clutch goal scoring legend Jordan Eberle. John Carlson scored his second goal of the game in overtime, following a few huge saves by backup goalie Jack Campbell.... Carlson silenced 15,000 screaming prairie hockey fans in SaskPlace who had been driven into a frenzy after Eberle scored twice in the last couple minutes......- Jake Allen is going to have to work hard at losing the goats horns after his horrible performance in the gold medal game. He wasn’t 0-3 like Mark Guggenberger to start the Memorial Cup final last spring, but Allen was not good, and failed to make the couple of big saves his team mates needed from him... to be fair, his counterpart, Mike “ Shaky “ Lee, was also chased from the net, and allowed some stoppable goals....- Liked the selections for the All Star team...... might have taken Cam Fowler over John Carlson, but that is a minor detail. Benjamin Conz and Nino Neiderreiter from Switzerland were not even on the radar for this honor at the start of the tournament, but served up undeniable performances.... Jordan Eberle leaves the WJC as one of the premier players to appear in the tourney, a legend before the age of 20 after scoring huge goals in huge games, with nothing but everything on the line...Derek Stepan is no longer a Who?, but the leader of a true team sent by the US. Alex Peitrangelo was heads and shoulders above all other defenseman in this tourney.....Jan 4 - To say that the Russian entry at the 2010 WJC has been lacklustre....well, that would be a very kind evaluation. How is this : 6th place. Filatov stripped of the captaincy. 4 power play goals powered the Finns to a victory over a big and smooth skating Russian entry that underachieved. Granted, the loss to Switzerland was a crushing heartbreaker, and if the Russians want to use the usual Canadian refrain, “ If it isn’t Gold, it doesn’t matter “, then okay, but really, everyone expected more from this team....- Comment on the Flyers loss to Ottawa : When you let the washed up Kovalev score 4 goals, it is time to re-evaluate. What do the Flyers do from here? Can you blame the goaltending?..... At the start of the year, this roster was the envy of most other GM’s, but something is not right on Broad Street...- Kids who have made a name at the WJC in Saskatoon : US captain Derek Stepan, in the hunt for the scoring title. Benjamin Conz, solid southpaw in net for the Swiss. Of course, the NightRider, big Nino Neiderreiter of the Swiss, big time – big body-big play, and Vlad Tarasenko from Russia, who looks like the current version of Tank Krutov, and goes to the net hard.- A few players who may not be such hot prospects after the 2010 WJC : Jacob Markstrom, a big body goalie who subscribes to the Huge Equipment theory, but lacks the reflexes necessary to be a true star, and Nazem Kadri, who looks frail, and has ridden on the coattails of Taylor Hall. Ryan Ellis is going to have to bulk up big time, and his skating is very suspect.....Jan 3 - The logic defying success of the New Jersey Devils continues, with Lou’s team sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. To look at the Devils roster, start with Hall of Famer in waiting Marty Brodeur, current superstar Zach Parise, then.........major drop off. Travis Zajac is a solid player, then you have past their prime timers Rolston and Elias. Nik Bergfors is a product of some Lamoreillo voodoo, then the Devils are a mish mash of wash ups and never weres.... but, they are in first place.....????? - The mess in Edmonton makes it easy to bring up the subject of Kevin Lowe and exactly what he has done with the good ship Oiler.... call a spade a spade, the run to the Cup final was a fluke. Then the Pronger deal, well that was just stupid. Yes, certainly the Oil higher ups were aware of the deal, but Lowe should have known better. Big bucks to Pisani for one good playoff?? Dumb. Horcoff at $7 mill per annum ?? Idiotic. And the decision to rush Sam “ Twerp “ Gagner into the NHL ? Not so astute, especially when one realizes that Gagner in essence has the lineup spot that would otherwise be held by Jordan Eberle, a far superior skater and offensive threat.... for all of this sound guidance, Lowe gets a spot at the Team Canada table ????...... - Would love to see the Thrashers get into the playoffs again, but not if it means the slimy agent for Kovalchuk gets to use it as a bargaining ship for more money. The whole “ more money because I am special “ thing is getting sickening. How about stick around in Atlanta, pull in about $7-8 mill per as one of the truly great goal scorers in the game right now, and play until the mid thirties, then ride off into the sunset..... Is that not more fulfilling than say, pulling a Gomez, taking megabucks, and looking like a greedy loser???? - Anybody claiming Colorado would be a top three team in the West in the first week of January before the start of the season would have been laughed at and heckled, possibly committed for a psych evaluation. But here we are, with a real possibility of the Avs being a playoff team without the legend Joe Sakic.... - Still waiting patiently for the Red Wings to ditch Chris Osgood and make a move at Marty Biron, Dwayne Roloson, or JS Giguere.... and for all the rumor shooter downers and salary Cap “ smart guys “, shove the cap up yer jazz, I still like to think of trades without opening an accounting program..... Jan 2 - So many days, so much to talk about...... start with the Winter Classic, where the Bruins finally pull off a successful attempt at Too Many Men on the Ice, capping off a comeback win over the Flyers with about 7 players on the frozen water, much to the delight of the New England Throngs.... - Considering the struggles of a handful of NHL teams that had elevated expectations, it is surprising to see the restraint of the axemen in regards to head coaches. That may be starting to change, as Andy Murray joins John Stevens amongst the fired.... In truth, the Blues success at the end of last year was a fluke, though they do have some young talent to build on, including the suspension proof Barret Jackman - USA name their Olympic roster, and go with a youth movement, maybe looking to get some energy to replace the experience of some older players like Guerin and Modano, and the ineffective and over rated Gomez. One question is : Langenbruner ?? Modano would have been better.... - The revelation of the WJC to date, hands down, is Nino Neiderreiter of Switzerland. The big power forward has been the complete package, with a definite physical presence, good skating ability, play in all areas of the rink, and not to be overlooked, goal scoring ability and a sense of how to create offense..... |
