I’d just like to say up front that neither Brett Favre nor Burt the Dog gave me any inside tips for this column. Burt may have called and we may have chatted for a while and he may have told me that you guys like talking about the Leafs, bashing non-traditional hockey markets and rumours involving les Habitants and Sundin. But he wasn’t trying to help me succeed in Ek’s absence.
Surprisingly, yesterday’s format ended up working out ok. When I finished writing it at 3:30 AM I did have some concerns because it was all over the map. Recently I’ve gotten away from the team commentary stuff and have focused more on the business stories and more detailed analysis. Moving forward I’m going to try and find a way to balance both because the response seemed pretty good. What was interesting was that of the many e-mails I received, I think they were all on completely different topics. So I’m going to do another day of random thoughts – focusing primarily on Wednesday’s games/news and then answer some of the comments/questions that were sent to me...
* Patrick Marleau had two goals and two assists but he didn’t fight, didn’t setup Jody Shelley for a goal, and didn’t score with one hand tied behind his back so I’m sure there’s a group of Sharks fans who weren’t satisfied with his performance tonight. In fact, I’m pretty sure I even saw him just hop onto the bench instead of diving.
* JR has always had a flare for the dramatic and scoring the shootout winner in his final game in Philadelphia (in all likelihood) will be another great memory for him in his long and memorable career.
* Why aren’t there more players like Tomas Holmstrom? Seriously why can’t what he does on the powerplay be replicated by other big men? Does he have a patent on dominating in front of the net?
* Some coaches advice you’ll probably never hear - “Listen Jason, all you have to do is start shooting the puck more and it will start going in.” Last year Blake’s shooting percentage was a shockingly low 4.5%. This year so far it’s gone even lower to 4.2%. To reach 40 goals at that pace he’ll need to take 960 shots, or just under 12 per game, which will mean a lot more 2-3 minute shifts.
* Keith Tkachuk somehow keeps doing it. At 36, his thirteenth 25+ goal season seems very likely. He’s got 7 in 6 games.
* Pierre-Luc Letourneau-The Blond (sorry that’s Leblond) had an assist in his first NHL game for NJ. PLLL was a 7th round pick back in 2004.
* Rusty Olesz, aka the man who received $18.75 mil after posting seasons of 21, 30 & 26 points scored his first goal of the season tonight. Just 13 more needed to match that career high.
* Just a thought, can everyone in the media ignore the Stars’ highly fashion consultant until he at least catches George Parros in the scoring race? The last two games have been billed as (insert fashion intern’s name here) versus New York and then New Jersey. Every day he’s in the headlines. The former Wing, King & Ranger (that sure is a lot of stops for such an invaluable player) had no points in either game and logged about 15 minutes per game.
Would it really be that hard for everyone to join forces and make Brenden Morrow the Star of the Stars, instead of a guy who cares about his image more than the sport or his team, whose career stats look a lot like Rusty Olesz? Let’s talk about Modano, Niskanen, Daley or Robidas – not a guy who would probably rather guest star on “The Hills” as Lauren Conrad’s fake boyfriend than doing what it takes to become a contributing member of a winning TEAM.
Last word on the topic and then I’m going to try not to mention him the rest of the year unless I have a darn good reason to. Ten, Twenty, Fifty years down the road, Marty Brodeur will be remembered as one of the greatest goalies of all-time. Dallas’ $15.5 million pest likely won’t be remembered at all. Great to see Marty get the shutout tonight.
* If memory serves correct I was a little hard on Patrick Sharp last season and I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong. Pat – you look sharp and I underestimated you.
* I’ve always been a huge Mike Fisher fan but he needs to be healthy and producing for the Sens to have success. He’s been held off the scoresheet this year.
* It seems like whenever Craig Anderson plays and faces 40+ shots, he wins. Going back to last year, it’s now five games in a row.
* I wonder if the Oilers were showcasing Roloson tonight or simply trying to get him into the rotation. Either way he played well and showed he could still play – as did Khabibulin who got the shutout and is either making things very interesting in Chicago.
* I wonder if the Ottawa brass had an eye on that game. The whole Gerber as a legit starting goalie experiment seems to be dragging on far too long.
* St. Louis’ impressive rookie T.J. Oshie scored his first NHL goal of many.
* A fellow 1st rounder from that 05 draft Brian Lee was sent down by Ottawa. If he still can’t beat out Luke Richardson, that’s got to be a concern for Sens fans.
* I still think sports and politics don’t mix well.
* In injury news, Rivet is out at least two weeks following arthroscopic surgery on his knee, Gaborik is skating and Blue DJ King is out for the year. Also, Martin Havlat is still healthy.
* After about four months officially on the job, Brian Lawton has been promoted in Tampa. In an unrelated story, this owner in my fantasy hockey league with the team name “SAW5_BearMountain” offered me B. Lawton and R. Vrbata for one of the Sedins.
* As previously mentioned, if you’re looking for tickets to the Winter Classic you may be out of luck unless you’re willing to pay big bucks. It’s gonna be a nice cash grab for season ticket holders (lots available on stubhub ranging from $350 to $10,000(?)) but the individual tix will be minimal. I love the outdoor game concept but I say let’s try and make the Winter Classic more like the Heritage Classic. For anyone who was in Edmonton for that weekend and in the stands for that long, freezing day you’ll remember that it was a true celebration of hockey and the Oilers, not a made-for-TV event.
According to the Commissioner, the league was “able to dominate” the last January 1st. Anyone have the Winter Classic ratings compared to Tennesse-Wisconsin, Missouri-Arkansas, Texas Tech-Virginia and Michigan-Florida? Did they dominate the Rose Bowl too or was the game really only a super-success in select regional markets and would it be better placed on another day?
I don’t follow College football that closely but I was down at Notre Dame a couple weeks ago for the first time (which was unbelievable) and I have noticed that according to ESPN’s bowl schedule there’s a 50% chance that the Irish end up playing at 1 PM in the Gator Bowl, which you’d think would affect ratings in the home market of the Classic.
* As I’m sure you’ve read by now, The Globe & Mail is reporting that Mats Sundin underwent a physical yesterday and is headed to Los Angeles soon for two weeks of training, after which he’ll start talking to NHL teams. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing about this story quite a bit although I’m hoping they’ll limit the Canadian coverage to TSN2, which I don’t get anyways.
* That reminded me of another question I had - if I already pay for NHL Center Ice on tv, why can’t I watch the games online for free?
* The Canadian dollar fell under 80 cents on Wednesday. But don’t believe everything you read - it’s all bizonkers in the NHL.
Now to the reader questions:
Reader: “You didn't say much about the Flyers and that surprised me considering their poor starting record. I don't know how much of them you've seen, but it looks like last years club but worse. And I hate to use the word worse considering they made it to the final four, but we all saw how bad they could be at times. Far too many shots given up, no enough consistency, poor transition game, no urgency... The team defense is obviously a huge problem -- that being said, you think we could've gotten a better Dman for a late first rounder? I sure do.”
I tried to focus much more on teams that don’t get as much press for the most part and given that we already have Ek, Tim and Bill telling you everything you need to know about the Flyers, I’m not sure how much value I can add to that discussion. Since you asked though...
There’s no doubt that the Flyers can score but I’m not sure how they plan on keeping the puck out of their own net. As you saw tonight, the goaltending is an issue and the D is thin due to injuries and struggling terribly. The Flyers are lucky to even have those three points after allowing 29 goals against in six games – 20 goals more than New Jersey.
I know they had a great run last year and it certainly will be an unpopular opinion on this site but I did think they were playing over their heads at points. The Flyers do have depth up front and a trade could be their best option – with a guy in Florida a likely target I would assume.
Did they give up too much for Eminger? Depends on how much you like Eminger.. For some comparables:
* Eminger was traded with a 3rd rounder for the 27th pick overall (John Carlson)
* Calgary traded Alex Tanguay and a 5th rounder for the 25th pick overall (Greg Nemisz) and an 09 2nd
* Buffalo traded Brian Campbell and a 7th rounder for Steve Bernier and the 26th pick overall (Tyler Ennis)
* Anaheim traded the 12th pick overall (Tyler Myers) to Los Angeles for the 17th pick overall (Jake Gardiner) and the 28th pick overall (Viktor Tikhonov)
* Atlanta traded Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh for Colby Armstrom, Erik Christensen and the 29th pick overall (Daultan Leveille)
Given the fact that he played just 20 games last season, averaging a team low 11 minutes on the blueline and that he’s never played more than 68 games in a year combined with his play early on, it’s tough to justify. But the scouts obviously like his potential and he’s just turning 25 next week. Some D-men just take a while to figure things out so I guess you have to be patient, which is tough to do when your team is still winless. The Flyers have to hope Eminger takes a similar (albeit expedited) development path to Philippe Boucher:
Boucher was drafted 13th overall in 1991
Eminger was drafted 12th overall in 2002
Both players jumped quickly to the NHL on a short-term basis, ended up going back to play significant time in the AHL and then had quite a bit of injury trouble. Boucher was able to find his game after being dealt to LA, although it did take him a while and the injuries were still a factor until he hit 28.
One thing the Flyers do need to do is get rid of the 18-year old defenceman ASAP and let him develop properly. There are at least a couple other teams who need to do the same (stay tuned for a piece next week on that topic).
***
Reader: “Have you watch Paul Stastny play? Yes, you can build a team around him.”
Truth is that there aren’t a ton of players that you can actually build a team around. Almost every team has their franchise player but not many teams actually have a true Franchise Player. A Franchise Player is a guy who in capable of putting a team on his back and carrying them to great heights – and not just once. Off the top of my head there are maybe 10 active players who are/were/will be in that category. I originally had a list on here but before throwing something like that out there I really need to put more thought into it and develop criteria.
Is Kopitar even close to that group? No and it’s quite likely he never will be. Many have had outstanding careers and still failed to reach that status in my mind. But I do think he’s closer to playing that part than Stastny – and that’s not a knock against a fantastic player who will cash in big-time this year, deservedly so. Kopitar’s size, strength and maturity at such a young age makes him such a unique player. As I wrote last year, a lot of people haven’t seen him play a lot because he plays out West and unless you’re a glutton for punishment you haven’t had much reason to stay up and watch the Kings play in recent years.
***
Reader: “You neglected to credit assistant coach Mark Hardy who has returned from Chicago to head the defensive side of things....”
Great point – thanks. Hardy has definitely done a great job with a somewhat patchwork group that’s included Doughty, Preissing, Quincey, O’Donnell, Greene, Johnson, Gauthier and Harrold.
Still a lot of it has to do with Michal Handzus, who has made a Smash Williams-type comeback from the knee injury to rediscover his game as a valuable two-way player.
***
Reader: “Finally, when is the NHL going to realize that simply shaving the goal posts down could result in 2-4 more goals a game. I would say, on average, the post is rang 3 times per game. If you shave down the posts, you would see a lot more go in. And more importantly, maybe we'll see some actual exciting goals. You know? The kind that aren't scored within 4 feet of the crease.”
An interesting discussion point. I’m a traditionalist in many ways but I’d love to know the stats on how many shots per game hit the post and how many of those actually go in. Maybe Ron Wilson has that info – sounds like he’s done some really interesting research over the years. One thing I do miss from hockey in the 80s & early 90s is shots going in. Now if a goalie is beaten on a shot without heavy traffic in front, it’s a bad goal.
***
Reader: “Can you possibly send me a list of the top players going into their contract year this year?”
Scanning through the list, here are some of the more interesting names:
UFA – Niedermayer, Beauchemin, Schneider, Thomas, Afinogenov, Connolly, Cammalleri, Havlat, Khabibulin, Sakic, Boucher, Hossa, Zettererg, Franzen, Cole, Garon, Bouwmeester, Gaborik, Backstrom, Tanguay, Koivu, Kovalev, Lang, Komisarek, Gionta, Madden, Guerin, Weight, Comrie, Kalinin, Kuba, Biron, Morris, Sykora, Tkachuk, McDonald, Legace, Antropov, Sedin, Sedin, Ohlund, Fedorov
RFA – Lehtonen, Kessel, Stastny, J. Johnson, Higgins, Plekanec, Zherdev, J. Staal,
Many of those guys will re-up during the year. Others will be dealt as the deadline gets closer when their team is out of contention. Others will have their best year ever and get a ridiculous deal from Tampa.
I wonder what the odds are of Mike Gillis trying to convince Sakic and Niedermayer to finish their careers in BC next year, with the chance to represent their country/city/team in the Olympics?
***
Reader: “Would love to know what you are reading and get list sooner than later”
Start with these ones to get, if you haven’t already read them:
“The Game”, Ken Dryden
“Future Greats and Heartbreaks”, Gare Joyce
“King of Russia”, Dave King & Eric Duhatschek
“The Code”, Ross Bernstein
“The Game of Our Lives”, Peter Gzowski
“When the Lights Went Out”, Gare Joyce
“Gordie”, Roy MacSkimming
“Searching for Bobby Orr”, Stephen Brunt
It will take me some time to get through the 08 releases but two that I’m looking forward to reading are “Road to Hockeytown”, by Jimmy Devellano and the Patrick Roy biography, appropriately titled “Patrick Roy”.
If you love hockey photography, the NHL’s Reflections is a must – and it’s for a great cause too (Hockey Fights Cancer). There are also some really interesting compilations available like The Hockey News’ “The Ultimate Book of Hockey Lists” and Scott Morrison’s “By the Numbers”.
I’ll try and do a much more extensive piece on this topic at some point and I’d love to hear some reader selections too.
***
Lastly, Congrats to the Lester Patrick Award recipients, Bob Naegele, Brian Burke, Ted Lindsay and Phil Housley. Hockeybuzz’s Brad Ratgen covered the event and has a great piece
here.
Also congrats to recent Gemini winners Pierre McGuire (Best Game Analyst), Bob McKenzie (Best Studio Analyst), CBC and their pre-game show (notably Ron McLean and Elliotte Friedman) and to the family of the late Don Wittman, who was named Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer. I don’t think Canadians realize how lucky we are to have two stations like TSN and CBC producing such incredibly high quality broadcasts – from the studio to the booth and everywhere in between. I watch a lot of hockey – I’d guess 40 hours a week maybe and you notice the difference when the game is on CBC or TSN.
Tonight we’ve got 7 games:
7:00 Toronto at Boston
7:00 Dallas at NY Islanders
7:30 Carolina at Pittsburgh
8:00 Calgary at Nashville
8:00 Buffalo at Minnesota
9:30 Edmonton at Colorado
10:00 Washington at Phoenix
I love when the start-times are staggered like that because it allows you to watch more of more games.
Have a good one,
Danny –
[email protected]
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