We Hardly Knew Ye, South(L)east Division

Regarded as one of the worst divisions in the history of hockey, if not sports, is now finished. The elimination of the Washington Capitals closed the chapter of the Southeast Division, something that many celebrated for being dead because most of the time these teams were only in the playoffs because they got at least one spot for actually winning the division, putting them in the 3rd spot (at least), many times points behind the 4th finisher.

But was that division as horrific as many people thought it was?? Since the division came about in the 1998-99 season, the Southeast Division sent two teams to the playoffs in eight of the 14 seasons it was around, it yielded only one President's Trophy winner (2009-10 Capitals) and two Stanley Cup Champions (2004 Lightning, 2006 Hurricanes). The Capitals, who were the only team not to move from their original location or be an expansion team, was the division winner seven times, Hurricanes three times, Lightning twice, with Panthers and Thrashers/Jets winning it once.

Now, to look how it looked in every year against the rest of the Conference for the Playoffs:

1998-99: Carolina Hurricanes: Seeded 3rd (Ranked 8th), Lost in First Round
1999-00: Washington Capitals: 2nd, Lost in First Round
                Florida Panthers: 5th, Lost in First Round
2000-01: Washington Capitals: 3rd (Ranked 6th), Lost in First Round
               Carolina Hurricanes: 8th, Lost in First Round
2001-02: Carolina Hurricanes: 3rd (Ranked 7th), Lost in Stanley Cup Finals
2002-03: Tampa Bay Lightning: 3rd (Ranked 5th), Lost in Second Round
               Washington Capitals: 6th, Lost in First Round
2003-04: Tampa Bay Lightning: 1st, Won Stanley Cup
2005-06: Carolina Hurricanes: 2nd, Won Stanley Cup
               Tampa Bay Lightning: 8th, Lost in First Round
2006-07: Atlanta Thrashers: 3rd (Ranked 5th), Lost in First Round
               Tampa Bay Lightning: 7th, Lost in First Round
2007-08: Washington Capitals: 3rd (Ranked T-7th), Lost in First Round
2008-09: Washington Capitals: 2nd, Lost in Second Round
               Carolina Hurricanes: 6th, Lost in Conference Finals
2009-10: Washington Capitals: 1st, Lost in First Round
2010-11: Washington Capitals: 1st, Lost in Second Round
                Tampa Bay Lightning: 5th, Lost in Conference Finals
2011-12: Florida Panthers: 3rd (Ranked 6th), Lost in First Round
               Washington Capitals: 7th, Lost in Second Round
2012-13: Washington Capitals: 3rd (Ranked T-4th), Lost in First Round

In summation: 13 times were lost in the first round, four times in the second round, five times in the Conference Finals, three times to the Stanley Cup, twice winning it. It's very ugly considering the differential that many of the seeded and rankings shows us. Most cases, all the teams would seemingly shoot for is to win the division in order to get to the playoffs rather than shoot for the 8th spot. While you had both in the sights, the easier thing was to hope for a collapse of your division rivals, which at times happened.

It wasn't the prettiest of divisions, it wasn't the most notable, it didn't provide too much excitement outside of who could come up with a better punchline for it. We're all probably better off with the realignment, but it did provide some kind of head scratching goodness come playoff stretch time. While it's not like they actually had a non-playoff team make the playoffs in that 3rd spot, it wasn't as if they deserved that high ranking-- even though they did lose more often than not when given that.

Canes Blow By Winnipeg

Cam Ward makes one of 32 saves

1st Star: Cam Ward, CAR: 32 saves, shutout

2nd Star: Chad LaRose, CAR: 1 goal

3rd Star: Alex Semin, CAR: Game-winning goal

In the lone afternoon tilt, the Carolina Hurricanes got a stellar performance from Cam Ward, who stopped all 32 shots he faced and newcomer Alex Semin scored the game-winning goal against the Winnipeg Jets. Chad LaRose had the other goal for the Canes, while the Jets got 25 saves from Ondrej Pavelec. 

Skinner Playing Hooky, Not Hockey

With the AHL in full-swing with training camp, one noticeable absentee is Jeff Skinner. The young forward said last week he wouldn't be reporting to the AHL's Charlotte Checkers camp for one reason or another. Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford said that the decision for Skinner not to report was mutual between the club and the player, but it makes you wonder if this is a small alarm in what it could be like to deal with Skinner in the future.

Other players like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle have reported to their AHL assignments (as well as Taylor Hall when he gets healthy again), same goes for Braden Holtby, Adam Henrique, and Brayden Schenn. Why does Skinner feel that he should be above the others and not actually continue to play at the higher level that the AHL is going to bring to the table this season??

Sure, the fact that Skinner has a Calder Trophy and been in the NHL full-time since he was drafted could be the reason he doesn't feel the need to be in the AHL at all because he feels he's above that. He's entitled to that thought, though it probably leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the Hurricanes management who actually gave Skinner a six-year contract extension, just short of $35M over the contract term.

Even though this AHL assignment could be above him, you almost would wish that he would continually want to play in order to keep his profile up. The Hurricanes were very aggressive this past summer with many offensive acquisitions (Jordan Staal and Alex Semin), so Skinner playing in any form probably wouldn't be the worst for him or the Hurricanes. Especially with how competitive it'll be for the top-six spots in Raleigh, Skinner could actually slip down the chart should be come out of the gates slow and then have the critics on his case for not taking the assignment in the first place.

Not only that, but it makes Skinner look like a prima donna when it comes to playing the game and not going for something that could only be good for him. The Washington Caps fans know about this an even made an animated GIF about it, too. If he doesn't actually pick-up his game when the NHL comes back into our lives, then we know that he made a terrible mistake by not actually taking this assignment. More over, it could sully his name when it comes to his standing in the Hurricanes book. While they say the decision was "mutual" the fact that Rutherford didn't want to overly argue with his young star could be a reason, hoping he would smarten up and actually take the assignment in stride.

There's still a chance that young Skinner would take the assignment and show up in Charlotte at some point in the AHL season, though he'd be a little behind. Considering the odds of him going overseas at this point are a bit lower than they were a month ago, the AHL could be the only outlet if the NHL is going to drag this lockout further. Skinner would probably be wise to head there (or somewhere) sooner rather than later.

Defensive Depression May Hinder Forceful Forwards

With all their acquisitions this summer, the Carolina Hurricanes are looking pretty decent when it comes to what they look forward to when it comes to the 2012-13 season. With the signing of Alex Semin, the trade for Jordan Staal, and the extension given to Jeff Skinner; they have their ducks lined up in a row for this year and beyond. Add those names to Eric Staal, Jussi Jokinen, and Tuomo Ruutu; the Hurricanes are looking pretty solid up front.

One problem, while the ability to score is nice-- the ability to stop the other team for scoring is very nice. That's something that the Hurricanes may be missing, which seems obvious to many people who have looked at the Canes roster. 

Looking at the top-four for the Canes defense, it doesn't really strike too much fear into the hearts of many teams with a decent offense. Not to say that Jamie McBain, Joni Pitkanen, Tim Gleason, and Justin Faulk aren't up to the task of being a huge surprise this coming season-- but I don't believe that the four of them (as well as a hidden Joe Corvo lurking) will compliment the offensive advances that the Hurricanes have tried to make this summer. Maybe Jay Harrison will help make the group of six a little more well-rounded, but it's....doubtful at best. 

While the likes of Ryan Murphy, M-A Gragnani, Bobby Sanguinetti, and Austin Levi coming up through the pipeline, the future could look a little brighter should those for be able to be convinced to stick around for the long haul, but if the Canes cannot groom younger defensemen-- signing the likes of Staal and Skinner for the long term may be putting the cart before the horse in hoping this will make some kind of contender for the next decade or so. 

Yet, in the present time, should the defense of the Hurricanes falter-- the onus will fall on Cam Ward. Despite his save percentage and GAA not showing it; Ward had the second most shots against (2,143) saves (1,951), but gave up the second most goals (182) in the NHL last season, where he played the 5th most games of all the NHL goalie last season at 68. He played a lot of games, so the stats will be up there, but he's almost the kind of guy who had the same knocks against him that M-A Fleury; a good, but not great goalie. 

Will Ward steal a game here and there?? Sure, and maybe with some goal support and with defensive help, it could be a lot more this season than in season's past-- but odds are he won't be able to do that night-in and night-out on his own. Ward does have a Cup ring and he is a guy who can bounce back from an off-year and can be very streaky-- but is there a point where he burns out from facing too many shots and being overplayed?? Justin Peters has a lot of talent, but I don't know if he's reliable enough to get more starts as the season wears on. 

The front-end for the Canes will be solid. Even if there's times where they slump a little-- the potential is pretty scary if they can hit on all cylinders for 55 or more games this season. The biggest thing is the back-end of the roster and if they can stop the puck and not make it the old-style, firewagon hockey that the 1980s used to have. While it'd be great for attention on the Canes games, the Canes fans may have years taken off their life for every 6-5 game that is being played. 

Absurd Goalie Monday: Mike Fountain

This draft weekend has passed and there's many who wonder what will happen to most of these prospects. As we've seen from this segment, sometimes it doesn't pan out as planned. However, this story is equally as tragic. This week's AGM was passed over in the draft, only to gain his spot in the World Juniors over two drafted and future Stanley Cup winners, only to not live up to expectation as many had thought. This week, the profile of Mike Fountain. 

The 1988-89 season is where Fountain would start with in the Junior "C" ranks with the Huntsville Blair McCanns in Ontarion, going 18-3-2 in 23 games. The 1989-90 season would have Fountain in Junior "B" with the Chatham Micmacs for 21 games (no record given), but would take home the Western Jr. "B" Championship. 

Moving to the Major Junior ranks, Fountain would start in the 1990-91 season with the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds for seven games (5-2-0) before being traded to the Oshawa Generals to round out the last 30 games of his season, going 17-5-1. Fountain would stay with the Generals in the 1991-92 season, he would go 18-13-6 in 40 games. Fountain would also beat out the likes of Martin Brodeur and Chris Osgood to be the back-up of Trevor Kidd for the Canadian World Junior team, but not getting into a game.

That summer, Fountain was drafted 45th overall by the Vancouver Canucks after being passed over in his last two drafts. Fountain would start the 1992-93 season with the Canadian National team, going 7-5-1 in 13 games; as well as winning the Spengler Cup with Canada. After the Spengler Cup, Fountain moved to the AHL and the Hamilton Canucks, playing in 12 games to end the season and posting a 2-8-0 record. Fountain would spend the entire 1993-94 season with Hamilton, finishing with a 34-28-6 record in 70 games, then going 0-2 in three playoff appearances. 

The Canucks moved their affiliation to Syracuse and became the Crunch, which is where Fountain would be for the 1994-95 season, posting a 25-29-6 record in 61 appearances. For the 1995-96 season would be a struggle for Fountain in the regular season (21-27-3 in 51 games), but had a decent playoff outing with a 8-7 record in 15 games. It was a turnaround for Fountain, of sorts, in the 1996-97 season; going only 8-14-2 in 25 games with the Crunch (plus 0-2 in two playoff games); but Fountain finally got his NHL chance with the Canucks-- posting a 2-2-0 record in six games, including becoming the 19th goalie to start his career with a shutout win, as well as missing an empty net goal in his 3-0 win versus the Devils. 

Fountain was shuffled in the Canucks depth chart and moved onto the Carolina Hurricanes in the summer of 1997. Fountain would stick in the AHL with the Beast of New Haven for the bulk of the 1997-98 season; going 25-19-5 in 50 appearances, while spending three games with the Hurricanes-- losing all three.The 1998-99 season saw Fountain back with the Beast of New Haven, going 23-24-3 in 51 appearances. 

Signing with the Ottawa Senators organization in 1999, Fountain went to the IHL's Grand Rapids Griffins for the season-- playing in 36 games and compiling a 21-7-4 record, while geting a no-decision in his one appearance in Ottawa that season. The 2000-01 season had Fountain playing solidly in Grand Rapids finishing with a 34-10-6 record in 52 game and then going 5-3 in eight playoff games. Fountain would play in one game in Ottawa that season, which was a loss. 

After that season, Fountain went on a European vacation starting in the 2001-02 season, first to Russia with Lada Togliatti for two seasons, playing in 64 games total and posting 19 shutouts in two seasons-- including 14 in 2001-02; which was a Russian League record. Fountain then to Germany in the 2003-04 season with the Iserlohn Roosters for 34 games before moving back to North American to sign with the UHL's Motor City Mechanics for the 2004-05 season-- playing in three games (all losses). After that short stint, Fountain completed his 2004-05 season with the Russian 2nd League for Mechel Chelyabinsk for 17 games and posting five shutouts. 

After a year off, Fountain returned to Russia and Lada Togliatti for the 2006-07 season until the 2008-09 season, playing in a total of 84 games over those three years-- posting six shutouts in that span and averaging a 2.43 GAA. Fountain would retire after that. 

Since then, Fountain has kept going on the teaching route. During his playing days-- Fountain would be an instructor for various schools-- including Roger Neilson's hockey school. Fountain has also worked as goalie coach for the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks. Currently, he is working as the hockey director for the Walker Ice and Fitness Center in Walker, Michigan where he oversees the Learn to Play, Learn to Skate, and Hockey Association of West Kent. 

While he did beat out two potential Hall of Famers younger in his career, the shuffle and mismanagement of some teams are what stunted his development and gave him a glass ceiling he never could seem to break through. However, Fountain made his time enjoyable, having some solid seasons and dealing with the hardships of others. Now, he's passing onto others the wisdom of his travels. 

Southeast Shuffle

In a span of two hours, Guy Boucher became the longest tenured coach in the Southeast Division. Both Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals and Paul Maurice of the Carolina Hurricanes were fired. Replacing them were Dale Hunter and Kirk Muller (rumored) respectively.

First, for the Capitals-- I guess if you give the people what they want, like old colors, jerseys, and players-- then you let the prisoners run the asylum. That said, if there's a hard-ass guy to get the team to pay attention and give effort-- it's Dale Hunter.

That said, Bruce Boudreau probably wasn't the guy to get the Caps over the hump after four seasons of trying. He lost the room and wasn't getting the effort from the guys that he needed to. When you have your star player who's signed long-term and your coach at odds-- the coach always loses out. Though Boudreau's tenure yielded the revitalization of the Capitals, he just never seemed to have the killer instinct needed. Going 201-88-40 will only give you so much reputation before the dismal playoff record comes up. Best of luck to Boudreau, who did a lot of the Caps in the long-run.

When it comes to the new coach, Dale Hunter is a legend in the Caps history. He's a guy who was a hard-nosed player and will probably be a hard-nosed coach. Yet, it's going to be a learning curve for a guy who hasn't coached a NHL game before. Sure, he was the fastest coach to win 300 and 400 games in the OHL and is only 49 away from 500; but it's two different dynamics. That said, I think he'll bring a different message to the room; holding more guys accountable and really laying into them because his number is hanging in the rafter and seems to care a lot about the franchise. We'll see how it goes.

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As far the Hurricanes are concerned-- fool Jim Rutherford once, shame on you; but if you fool him twice, shame on him. It seems that the second tenure of Paul Maurice ended as fouly as the first....but like every jokester on Twitter noted-- he'll be back for a third.

Though it won't be confirmed until later, replacing him with Kirk Muller should be a good idea, as he seemed to be groomed to take over the Canadiens coaching position, but then went to the Nashville Predators organization to coach the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals, who are 10-6-1 this season. Muller is a guy who seems to have a great grasp of the game behind the bench and should be able to take over the Hurricanes pretty easily; whom are second to last in the Eastern Conference at 8-13-4. Muller will have a lot of younger guys who have some experience due to their runs in the playoffs-- but getting the most out of them on a nightly basis will be the key.

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These were changes that were going to be made sooner or later and I guess they let their coaches give thanks and then can them like so much cranberries. Now, it's time to put these new coaches under the microscope and observe every movement.

Kaity 'Beth's Outsourced Picks

The joys of parenthood is defined different for everyone. For me, it's someone to do my work for me. As Kaity did in her 2nd Annual Picks for the Cup.



To be fair, on FOHS last night (which you can hear when the Playoffs start, I'm sure): I did pick the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars for my Cup picks, not picking a winner.

And that's what's up.

On the Topic Of Mascots

As the Draft is being revealed as heading to Pittsburgh for June 2012, there needed to be some shuffling of scheduling for the Consol Energy Center. One of which was a "Furries" Convention that needed to be pushed a week earlier. If you're not familiar with the "Furries" craze....then read up on it at the link.

Not only is that kind of amusing to me, but it made me wonder about mascots and how fun it would be if the mascots actually picketed outside during the FanFest wondering where the convention was and why they weren't notified.

In any case, since it's August and not much is going on out there-- this is a post on mascots that are my favorite-- sans Boomer, because I've already done something about him before.

1. Harvey the Hound-- You always got to love the first in any movement and Harvey is the first mascot in the NHL. Introduced in 1983, Harvey has been most noticeable for having his tongue ripped out by then Oilers' coach Craig MacTavish. Plus, the fact they use-- I guess-- a rescue dog for the Flames and he doesn't have a shirt on.....makes it even more interesting. Good on Harvey for being the first and most unusual-to-the-team-name mascot.

2. Badaboum-- This was the mascot of the Quebec Nordiques and it almost seemed like the starting for the Quebecors to actually have crazy muppet-esque mascots for their representation. Sadly, Badaboum did not make the trek to Colorado and could make a comeback (doubtful) if there's a team that relocates to Quebec City.

3. Youppi-- To continue with the Quebec theme, the Canadiens' mascot could be the most versatile, as Youppi was the iconic mascot of the Montreal Expos; but when they moved to Washington, DC-- the Habs picked up the pieces and kept the tradition of the Expos alive. They have the retired Expos numbers in the rafters and brought over Youppi in order to kept that tradition alive.

4. Stormy-- A hog shouldn't correlate with a hurricane, but it does in Raleigh. You see, the Hurricanes could have been called the Ice Hogs because of the all the hog farms in North Carolina. Yet, it still makes me laugh that a hog is the mascot of the Hurricanes-- but it's probably better than anything they could have come up with otherwise.

5. Nordy-- While I did say once that he was an odd looking mascot-- you have to respect the Wild's mascot. Not only is he half-bear, half-fox, half-man (ManBearFox??), but he has a mullet. Any mascot that can rock the mullet is alright in my books, even if they look freaky as hell and make people cock their heads to the sides wondering what it is.

That's my five-- and while these choices aren't like the NHL Guardians, it's a little more family friendly and unique to the team at each turn. Some have a lot to do with the team, some do not-- but the ones that do not are the best because of the guessing game of why they actually exist.

For Your Consideration: Raleigh, North Carolina

Every year around TV/Movie awards time, some talent agencies have been known to send out reminders to the voters about their clients nomination; or even locations saying to choose there town to shoot a movie. With Free Agency around the corner, I couldn't resist trying to sell some of the markets that could use a big name player. This installation-- Raleigh, North Carolina and the Carolina Hurricanes.

For a team that has had a Stanley Cup in their history in a post-lockout NHL, there hasn't seem to be too much buzz for the Hurricanes when it comes to the free agent market. Hopefully, this year, that'll change because of the money they have to work with and with the kind of team they can be with the talent they have. And why not, after the reasons I present to you now.

Newly Discovered Hot-Bed: With the All-Star Game last year, the hockey world was exposed to the hospitality and rabid the Hurricanes fans can actually bring. Yes, it's not your usual hockey market, but at the same time-- with the right personnel, this team can flourish. Sure, you'll have some fans who are still learning the lingo and how the game goes-- but every market had to start somewhere.

What's Old is New Again: For some reason, the Hurricanes love having guys on the roster who have had a tour of duty with the team before. Whether it's someone like Erik Cole or the coach Paul Maurice; if you have donned the black and red before-- make sure you know which phone number is GM's Jim Rutherford because odds are he'll be giving you a buzz in the near future to see if you want to come back to play.

Under the Radar Prowess: This reason is one that depends on how you look at it, as the Raleigh area is very enamored with their college basketball, as NC State, University of North Carolina, and Duke University is all in the area. This could be a bad thing if the Canes are doing good and the fans won't come out to see them play because of the routine of getting into basketball; but it could also be good if there are struggles with the squad as the team would get lost in the fold due to the intensity of the ACC.

Arena Rowdiness: With a team name like the Hurricanes, you're going to have a building that'll do all the things it can to be loud and create as much noise as possible. Whether it's from the hurricane warning horn being sounded at the beginning of the game or the fact Ric Flair pops up after every Carolina Hurricane goal......and period open.....and whenever he feels like because he's Ric Flair, dammit (WHOOOOOO!!); the energy that can be create could be a motivator and a deciding factor from game-to-game with this team; and who doesn't like positive vibes when playing at home.

The Canes have to try and act accordingly to keep up with the rest of the Southeast Division, who would are always on the look-out for the the best team there and stockpiling great talent to make sure they move onto the playoffs. If Carolina wants to "keep up with the Joneses", they'll have to be willing to spend a little and convince free agents it's a great place-- which it is.

Testing the Sean-O Rookie Theorem

The theory that no matter how good a rookie is at the start of the season; there will be a darkhorse rookie to tear it up in the second half to win the Calder Trophy. In addition, Jason Spezza is always in the running.

That's how the savant of the Face Off Hockey Show believes the Calder race always turns out. Last year was true, as many thought it could be John Tavares or Matt Duchene-- but Tyler Myers walked away in a runaway over Duchene and Jimmy Howard. Steve Mason caught fire in 2009, while Andrew Raycroft in 2004 over Michael Ryder and Barret Jackman in 2003 over Rick Nash and Henrik Zetterberg.

At the start of the year, many thought it would be one of the Edmonton trio of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, or Magnus Paajarvi (Svensson). When they got off to a slow start, Logan Couture of San Jose kind of took the reigns over. Even with that, Jeff Skinner of Carolina has caught fire as of late, but even now-- Michael Grabner on Long Island has come on as of late, although he could be frowned upon because he's up for the Cy Young Award for more goals than assists.

The big thing with the theorem, and it's genius from Sean, is that for the most part-- most rookie usually can't keep up a torrid pace for a long season; especially when they're still getting their feet wet with the pace from the jump up in ranks. At the same time, you can really tell the elite guys that can actually maintain their pace throughout the season-- though a few have had a sophomore hiccup; then regaining their composure mid-way through the season or the season after. Then again, there's guys like Raycroft who fall off the map after one good season or Jackman, who has been proned to injuries through his career.

We still have time to see if the theorem holds true, but by the looks of it-- Sean-O could have another notch in his belt with this moral victory. If he could only get that Washington/Vancouver Stanley Cup final-- he'll be gold.

Should They Stay or Should They Go??

While it's not time to panic about the season just yet, it is time to panic when it comes to what to do with some of the junior-eligible players. You see, the rule is that the junior eligible players can play up to ten games in the NHL without their contract going into effect. However, if they do play that 11th game, they will have their entry-level contract "activated," while after 40 games, the player will have one-season under their belt and be closer to UFA status down the road.

This isn't so much a question about Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, both whom are pretty much guaranteed to stay up with their NHL club, it's more a question on whether guys like Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes, Cam Fowler of the Anaheim Ducks and Nino Niederreiter of the New York Islanders will stay up with the club after that 11-game mark is achieved.

For a case like Niederreiter, I think it's a case of him being kept up because he does have the ability to stay with the club, he has the skill-set to stick in the NHL, plus-- injuries to many forwards on the team is something that helped rush his arrival in the NHL. While the Islanders seem to have the worst luck this year, you have to see the long-term goal of it all. If you keep a kid like that up for the entire year, can he contribute for the whole season or is the fact he's healthy and can play very well going to shade the fact he's still 18-years-old and may need time to season?? The Islanders are a wild-card team, so you never know what's going to happen over there.

When you talk about guys like Skinner and Fowler, it's definitely a different scenario. Reports on Skinner are that unless something goes horribly wrong, Skinner will stay in Carolina for the entire season.

With Fowler, he has been playing big minutes on a very thin Anaheim defense. If they continue to look as bad as they have been, do you want to keep a kid up on the roster, getting burned out on a team when he could be playing in juniors and keep getting better. Fowler is a case where the AHL age restriction is something that is idiocy for NHL teams. Fowler is too good, so to speak, to play in the OHL and it could be a hinderance than a help; but the NHL game could burn him out in his first season if the team around him continues to be craptastic and if he carries too much weigh on his shoulders in his rookie season. If he could get to the AHL, he may not get as burnt out on the workload, learn the system of the team more, and not be a big fish in a small pond. In the end, I think the Ducks will keep him around, but it may not be the ideal situation to be in.

This could be a class of junior players who could have a great output when the end happens. While you have the top two, the deeper picks could be the ones making the most noise and being closely looked at more than what Hall and Seguin are doing. The only way they should stick with the main club is when the development of the players is good enough and they're able to fit into the team dynamic without changing their style of game. If they can't do that now-- they shouldn't be up in the NHL and develop more elsewhere.

Friday Five: So It Begins

Another week and another season has started for the NHL. We've got the European games, the domestic games, and other games....I think....or something. Anyway-- we'll get into my Friday Five questions and some awful inane answers to contribute.

1. Is there a time where the European games don't make sense??

The time is coming soon, especially when you don't have many "sexy" teams heading over there this year. The downsides to this is just the teams lose a home game, which loses revenue for the team-- even though it could help some teams because they won't lose money because people won't come to the rink anyway. The problem is, with the fact Rene Fasel is still the head of the IIHF, that there's issues in North America with teams having troubles-- the NHL in Europe is just for show and if you want to do anything; go back to the old school times where one or two teams do a tour of a country and use that as their pre-season and to get the league out there. The Caps did it in Russia in 1989, the North Stars did it in France in 1990; set it up like that. Don't put regular season games there because it's not going to win anyone over.

2. It seems youth is being served early: Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner in Carolina, Sergei Bobrovsky in Philly, and the Edmonton Three. How long can this last for them?? (Assist to Captain Hammer for the idea.)

For the Edmonton triad of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Magnus Paajarvi (SVENSSON!!)-- it could last all season. Hall seems to be the real deal, Eberle should have been there last year, and MPS is the great compliment to those two. In Carolina, it looks like Skinner is ready to get things going-- but it could be just no one knowing how to play him, time will time. Sutter has the alternate captaincy, so he could be ready-- but because he plays where he does; no one is onto him.

Bobrovsky could be the wild card. We have always seen goalies get off to the quick start, then falters when people catch onto them-- right Jim Carey and Blaine Lacher?? That said, Bobo could be the guy who stops the goaltending carousel for the Flyers. He couldn't do any worse than the guys they've seen come in and out of the door. If nothing else, he's a guy that could keep the confidence given and parlay it into a solid season and beyond.

3. With Raitis Ivanans getting knocked the eff out by Steve MacIntyre, is this a record for people like Bob McKenzie to rag on fighting??

It could be, but I understand McKenzie's point of the game being out of hand and it being a worthless cause for this to happen. Yet, at the same time-- you try to get some kind of momentum into the next game if it's a lost cause-- whether it's a flurry of goals or a fight. Granted, Ivanans getting KTFO isn't what the Flames wanted, but he made a stand. If that could have happened earlier in the game with a different result-- who knows what could have happened. Yet, we'll see how much of a backlash this gets if something happens again.

4. What opening ceremonies thus far have been somewhat meaningful??

Though I very much dislike the Penguins, having Mario Lemieux put some of the melted ice from Mellon Arena on the Consol Energy ice was pretty snazzy. Not as cool as what the Montreal Canadiens did when they closed down Forum, but what do you expect from a team that has the history the Habs do??

Other than that, it seems like it's by the book for most teams. The Leafs bringing out their alumni for the opener, the Europeans bringing out their stars, teams just going through the elaborate opening announcing the team. It's nothing that's out of the ordinary, but it seems to have the same excitement factor behind it all.

5. What would be the perfect opening ceremony for a team that you were in charge of??

For one, you need fire-- that's a must. Have the mascot come out of the sky and hopefully not get stuck in the rafters. I'd go by the book and get the introductions and have the players do a victory lap to thank all the fans. Put replays of last year's season up there, good or bad, and then hype the team up about how well they're going to do and they're ready for a big Cup run.

All the while, I'm counting the money and trying to sell off some of the team's stuff like Charlestown Chiefs owner Joe McGrath or be like Howard K. Duff VIII and look for a way to move the team to Albuquerque and not let anyone know about it.

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And that's another week. If you have any ideas of questions-- I'll answer them. Email Scotty.Wazz@Gmail.com and I'll put into the upcoming F5 and you can join in. If you don't like this and didn't submit-- you have no room to complain about this craptasticness.

Niche Connection

As many of you may (or may not) know, as much as I'm into hockey; I'm also into the other oft-bashed sport-- NASCAR. In fact, myself and Todd "Wilson" Butts used to do a NASCAR internet radio show called "Pit Stop Radio" from 2001 until 2005. Todd has moved onto Wilson's Race Report and far surpassed the fame I have, but that's neither here nor there.

The thing that I've notice is how closely the two sports intertwine and intermingle in terms of promotional events. Also, these are sports that have their niche markets and have tried to expand out to the more mainstream across the country and even in other continents. Granted, NASCAR has seen a bit more success when expanding into the mainstream; even though they have plenty of detractors for one reason or another. Notwithstanding, there's a decent amount of parallel with the sports on the surface.

When you look deeper, you can see a lot more parallels when it comes to the two, especially when it comes to the minor leagues and their promotional activities. Before we get to that, we have to start out with one of the first cross-promotional items between the two sports. It happened in 1997, the first year for the Carolina Hurricanes. To get their name out there to the masses after the move from Hartford, the team bought space on the back deck-lid and bumper of Jeff Burton's #99 Exide Ford. They call NASCAR the fastest billboards on Earth and it seemed to get some word out there for the masses.

While the Burton thing seemed to be just a one-year deal, the NASCAR community would welcome some more NHL logos in 2004, when Jeremy Mayfield had the 2004 NHL All-Star Game logo on his #19 Dodge Dealers Dodge for the Budweiser Shootout, seen in the picture above. This is when Dodge was the official car of the NHL and they took the chance to get the word out for the All-Star Game during Daytona's Speedweeks. Since then, there has no out and out sponsorship of a team or event.

That said, the likes of Regan Smith (formerly of the #01 DEI Chevy) have used the Carolina Hurricanes logo as a design on his helmet. Also, Martin Truex, Jr. of the #56 NAPA Toyota is an avid Philadelphia Flyers fan since he grew up in Mid-South New Jersey and has seemingly pulled Kevin Harvick (seen here with Flyers forward Jeff Carter), driver of the #29 Shell Chevy in with him to the Flyers fandom. Both Truex and Harvick followed the Flyers through their playoff run last season. Harvick also admitted to watching the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL, which is his hometown team. With NASCAR going into Canada, the Montreal Canadiens embraces driver David Reutimann of the #00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota and owner Michael Waltrip by presenting them jerseys of the team.

Conversely, there's plenty of hockey teams that incorporate NASCAR into their game-day and jersey schemes. The Charlotte Checkers, where most of the NASCAR teams have their headquarters, often have a NASCAR theme night during the year and the name goes along with the motif of the city prior to hockey. The old UHL has had many NASCAR nights with the checker pattern, as seen here with the Danbury Trashers and many other lower minor leagues and junior teams have done such ideas, as seen by this interesting Tri-City Americans' (WHL) jersey during their NASCAR night. Truex ties into this with being at Syracuse Crunch's NASCAR night in March of 2010.

One of the bigger tie-ins happened earlier in the summer with the SPHL announcing that the Ryan Newman Foundation would be a partner with the league and incorporate special nights with all eight SPHL teams for trips to NASCAR events. Ryan Newman is the driver of the #39 US Army Chevy and his foundation educates and supports animal welfare. Newman and his wife are hockey fans and thought that this would be a nice tie-in to the area that the SPHL targets.

While they seem miles apart in terms of philosophy, the fans of each sport and the sports themselves are somewhat on par. The fans, most of them are avid and very knowledgeable of the ins and outs of the game, while those who are new to the sport often pick it up fairly quickly and embed themselves quickly. The sports are both quick, high tempo, and often have strategy to them when the game or race is on the line. Of course, hockey can turn in all directions and NASCAR is usually all-left, that's neither here nor there. The point is that while it seems like these two "niche" sports wouldn't be in the same ballpark as each other, they are closer than some would like to admit.

When To Say When

The retirement of Rod Brind'Amour is something has been going through my head and the subject of whether some players know when to call it quits. Especially when you look at what Mike Modano is doing right now, which is the better option for some people. I can understand the drive some players my have; but is there a time where guys have something go off and say it's time to quit or do they need to be forced out because they're not needed. It's old conundrum if it's better to burn out or fade away.

Brind'Amour's plight is something that is a little more embarassing in my eyes. He's a guy who had a decent run for himself and didn't seem to see the signs that the game had passed him by. Sure, there were signs of brilliance every now and again, but not enough to warrant him playing past his expiration date. The fact that in his past two seasons he was a combined -52 (-23 and -29 respectively), plus his numbers have dropped and his need dropped-- which is something we saw when his captaincy was taken and given to Eric Staal-- something we all saw coming, but didn't see it in such a dramatic fashion. It didn't seem that Brind'Amour saw the writing and while he was very fit and had the conditioning, it didn't seem to play a factor into it all.

Mike Modano seems to be going that same route, but his is a bit interesting. Modano got a great big send-off in his last game in Minnesota, many in Dallas thought he was done, he got the big fanfare there and that should have been it, it would have been the magical ending to a great career. However, with him shopping himself around; it almost seem like a Brett Favre situation and we're all going to deal with this issue with him every time. You have to wonder if Modano is going to the be the new Chris Chelios and never really retire, but creep around and hope he gets a bite here and there. More over, for a guy who was with the Stars franchise his entire career; it would have been great to see him retire and show that you don't need free agency to have a nice career-- but now, will he taint his legacy by going to not only another team; but one who is a rival.

While I mentioned Chelios puttering around the various leagues looking for a gig, is that better or worse than guys like Theo Fleury or Claude Lemieux, who were taking a hiatus from playing all together, leading their post-retirement lives, then coming back out of the blue. At least with Chelios, he's staying in some kind of game shape and making himself out there, while the stuff of Lemieux and Fleury reeked of a sideshow and publicity stunt; especially with Fleury who had a book coming out at the same time.

While it's nice to have the drive for the game, there's a time where it become more of a distraction than anything else. It's the sideshow and maybe with the coverage of whether or not he can hack it with a new team that'll be something that's unneeded on most teams. Plus, the pressure that will come on the GM that sign him and backlash he could get from it all may be detrimental to him in the long-run as well.

While these guys have a solid career, it seems them almost having to be forced out of their place in the line-up is a bit of a shame and something they shouldn't have to go through to be forced out. Is there too much of a drive?? Is there not seeing the signs of giving up?? Is it just not having anywhere to go after it's all said and done?? Whatever it is, I feel they should have seen the signs before and not let their career slide off as much as it did before the called it a day in the sport. Of course, it's easy for me to say on this side of the table.

Absurd Goalie Monday: Greg Stefan

There has been a rash of goalie who have had a short-fuse. Plenty of them like to dusk it up because the net is there area and they don't want anything to happen around it. However, this week's AGM has had a string of dust-ups and even got ejected for sparking a bench-clearing brawl when he was sitting on the bench and not even suited up. Not many of them, however, were confused for a soon-to-be legend. This week, we look at the career of Greg Stefan.

Stefan was born in Brantford, Ontario and was childhood friends with Wayne Gretzky, as they grew up in the same neighborhood. Interesting fact is that Stefan and Gretzky looked alike and when Gretzky got tired of signing autographs during a tournament in Quebec; Gretzky passed his jacket off to Stefan and let Stefan sign Gretzky's name for the masses. There has been a rumor about Stefan signing Gretzky with a "s" and not a "z" but nothing confirmed.

Stefan's career started off after being picked fifth overall by the Oshawa Generals in the OMJHL (now OHL). He would start off in the 1978-79 season, playing 33 games behind Georges Gagnon with a 4.88 GAA for the season. The 1979-80 season would bring difficulties for Stefan, as he would only play 17 games fighting it out with Jamie Boyer to back up Rollie Melanson. Stefan would go 8-6-0 with a 3.88 GAA in that season. Stefan would take over the starting role in the 1980-81 season, but would miss some games toward the end of the season due to being suspended six game for breaking his stick over Brett Wilson of the Toronto Marlies in March of 1981. Despite that, Stefan played 48 games and went 23-14-3.

Thanks to his performance, Stefan was selected in the seventh round of the 1981 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. He immediately went into the Red Wings system in the 1981-82 season with the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL. Stefan would play behind Larry Lozinski going 11-13-3 with two shutouts and a 3.78 GAA in 29 games. Stefan would also see two games of action in Detroit, going 0-2-0 in this appearances. Stefan would go up to the Red Wings as a full-timer in the 1982-83 season, playing in a rotation with Corrado Micalef, Gilles Gilbert, and one appearance by Jim Rutherford. Stefan would play 35 games, going 6-16-9 on a dismal Wings team. While he would battle off some injuries on the 1983-84 season, Stefan improved his game and went 19-22-2 in 50 games, but when 1-2 in the playoffs. The 1984-85 season saw Stefan get less games due to missing a month with a shoulder injury, but went 21-19-3 in his 46 games, again only playing three playoff games and going 0-3. During his shoulder injury, however, Stefan got ejected while on the Detroit bench during a game in February 1985. The Minnesota North Stars head coach Glen Sonmor said Stefan sucker-punch Stars' player Tom McCarthy, which incited a bench-clearing brawl.

It got crazy in the 1985-86 season, as Stefan would miss the first eight games because of a stick-swinging incident during the 1985 playoffs. Later, during the season-- Stefan was suspended six more games for another swinging incident in December. With all of that, Stefan played 37 games and went 10-20-5 on the season. It was a bounce-back year for Stefan in the 1986-87 season, as he was feeling pressure from Glen Hanlon as a back-up, but Stefan would go 20-17-3 on the year, as well as going 4-5 in his nine playoff games. Hanlon would usurp Stefan's starting role in the 1987-88 season thanks to a knee injury to Stefan, though he would get a good amount of time in-- playing 33 games and going 17-9-5 and then going 5-4 in 10 playoff games, before getting beat out by his buddy Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers. Stefan would be injured during Game Two of the Edmonton/Detroit series after getting hit by Craig Simpson. Stefan would have a relatively healthy 1988-89 season, playing through some back pain and going 21-17-3 in 46 games, but had another short playoff-- going 2-3 in five games.

The 1989-90 season would be a short one for Stefan, as he would only play seven games (1-5-0) before suffering a serious knee injury during a game in late November; tearing up his ligaments. He would play only three games in January of 1990 with Adirondack (1-0-1), but would get the surgery in March of 1990 to repair his knee. Stefan returned to Detroit's camp, but would need more surgery before the 1990-91 season. It wouldn't be until February before Stefan would return to action, but would only play two games in Adirondack before re-injuring his knee, which led him to retire as he wouldn't have another surgery to his knee. He left his playing days at age 29.

His days in hockey weren't done, as he would start coaching in 1993 with the Detroit Jr. Red Wings as an assistant and would be with the team in their first OHL championship in 1995. Stefan moved with the team when they moved to Plymouth and became the Whalers; but Stefan would be offered a position by the Carolina Hurricanes, who's GM is Jim Rutherford; an old goaltending partner with Stefan in Detroit. Stefan did everything in the Hurricanes organization from a scout to assistant coach and actually got a Stanley Cup ring as a scout in 2006. Stefan would return to Plymouth to be the head coach in 2007, but would have troubles going 16-20-3 when he took over the team in the middle of the 2007-08, then getting ousted in the first round. He would come back for the 2008-09 season, but after getting off to a 6-11-3 start; he would step down and head back to the Hurricanes in a scouting role, but was let go earlier this month (July 1, 2010) by the Canes.

While he did have some famous friends, he managed to make a name for his own and have a decent career. While he did have to go through some injury issues and some attitude issues; Stefan did his best and succeeded to stay in the NHL even with those things working against him. He had a go afterwords, and saw some success there; but the future remains to be seen on what he'll do next.

EDIT 07.14.13: As seen in the comment section, Greg's son Joe gave us an update:  "He was the Goaltending Coach/Assistant Coach with the Hurricanes from 2006-2008. He was the one that put Cam Ward in.. and the rest is history. He's back with the Hurricanes now 2012-2015 is his contract."

Deadline Expectations

With the Trade Deadline about 24 hours away, you can bet teams will be hustling and bustling trying to get their teams set for the last part of the season and into the playoff run. Of course, some teams will be doing more than others; then the hindsight will set-in minutes after the deadline lapses. Here's some of the things I think may or may not happen as planned, as some are serious and some not. You can pick out which is which.

-Edmonton has already started to blow up their team with dealing Denis Grebeshkov to the Nashville Predators. While the Oilers have a lot to give up, the asking price may be a little too much for some teams. Plus, with all the injuries they've had, who knows how many teams will be chomping at the bit to deal with Edmonton and then realize they were sold a lemon.

-There's a lot of talk around the Toronto Maple Leafs and some of their players. While they shed some dead-weight in Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake, many wonder what Brian Burke did to con the Anaheim Ducks into that. Because of it, the GMs are unsure about dealing with Burke due to his Jedi mind-tricks or blackmailing photos he may possess.

-While there's not much to improve, the Washington Capitals could look for more help in the blueline, maybe a Steve Staios type player; mostly to help along the young guys. Some grit wouldn't hurt, but odds are they won't be able to get their dream acquisition, 1984 Rod Langway, mostly due to time travel and cloning not being readily available.

-Realizing they really don't have much after Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins loaded up on another defenseman in getting Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers. This way, they'll be able to dress 18 defensemen and hope the two forwards can come up big for them.

-The Florida Panthers started their fire sale with the Leopold move and you can almost assume that other big names will be moving before 3 PM Wednesday. With all the names being throwing out in terms of who's being moved out, it seems to be the first time the Panthers have been really relevant since the Jay Bouwmeester sweepstakes and before then-- the 1996 Stanley Cup Final.

-Figuring that they're okay with what they've got-- the Carolina Hurricanes will stand pat and not move anyone. Even though many players are begging to get out of Carolina, GM Jim Rutherford made his decision on whether to trade a player using Jo Dee Messina's "Heads Carolina, Tails California" and a two-headed coin.

The one thing that will be agreed upon is that there will probably be a lot of moves of role players and minor league deals-- and maybe some few bigger names thrown into the mix-- but it will be active with a lot of speculation of the sort. Also, plenty of mis-announce trades that are said to be done, but never happen.

As for me, we'll be doing a wrap-up on Face Off Hockey Show Wednesday night and I'll be on the panel of Hockey Independent's trade deadline live chat/blog going on over there. Be sure to check both out, because they'll be fantastic.

Eur-Insanity

Okay NHL, we get it-- you want the European market. But it's a bit rough when you're trying to grow the brand overseas when it's not completely sold in some of your markets Stateside. I don't get how taking a home game away from six teams helps grows the game where you need it. In actuality, it could be doing detriment to the team's well-being.

If you haven't heard, the NHL will be holding games in three European locations to start the season, with the Carolina Hurricanes taking on the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks going at it in Stockholm, and the Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes dueling in Prague.

While the NHL could call this whole gimmick a success, it almost seems like they're beating a dead horse in terms of locations. They've done all these cities before, the second year in a row for Helsinki and third year in a row for Stockholm. The best part about the first games in London was the exposure of the game to a place who wouldn't have that caliber of hockey in their country. Same goes with the games in Japan in 1998, giving top-notch exposure to a budding hockey nation. You'd think that if the NHL wanted to get the exposure throughout the European Union, they'd diversify where they would go. With emerging countries like Switzerland, Germany, and Slovakia-- those could be the countries you'd focus on getting more exposure to. Imagine the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks playing at HC Davos' Vaillant Arena for their game; magical. How about taking on the KHL in their backyard of Russia or other fomer Soviet satellite countries?? That'd be something for them to go head-to-head.

Along those lines, you have to question if the allure of it will be going down as the year's go on. The question comes about when it comes to the idea of multiple outdoors game, but with the Winter Classic being the only game for it, the allure and want to go play in it is there-- as is the excitement. With the European games, it's very taxing on the players with all the air-time they'll be logging, thus making them tired early on and could handcuff them for the rest of the season if they lose crucial points in the early season. To travel that much in the early part of the season when players conditioning isn't at the peak, it's more of a hinderance than anything.

We'll have to see what will happen for the 2011-12 season and if they expand it to eight team in four cities or whatever. The really craptastic side is if the NHL doesn't do anything with this exposure in Europe or doesn't have an NHL Europe like has been thrown out there for a while. It would almost seem like a waste of time if nothing bigger comes from this. Is there going to be a time were we'll have 15 cities hosting all 30 teams in a European Vacation for the NHL?? Only time will tell.

The Captaincy Conundrum

Eric Staal was named the Carolina Hurricanes captain today. My question is why now--- why not two years ago?? While Rod Brind'Amour should be commended for his years of service in the NHL and the lore behind him, in this day-in-age, it's almost a lead by example kind of role. This is why you saw young guns like Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews being named captain early on because they are character players.

Yet, you have to wonder how many times the captaincy change is long overdue. The Southeast Division alone has had two captaincy changes that have seemingly been long overdue. The Staal situation this time and a few weeks back Chris Clark getting traded from Washington, thus giving the captaincy to Alex Ovechkin-- with Clark being the stop-gap of captains so that Ovechkin got more comfortable with the language and leadership role. Both you could almost see happening at anytime, with some saying (especially in the Caps situation), the team already belonged to the next in line and it was a matter of time. At least in the Caps case, they traded him away. You have to wonder what will happen in the Canes locker room with Brind'Amour still being there-- maybe peering over at Staal and putting him under a microscope at every turn. While Brind'Amour may have had veto power and not used it, you can still bet there's something stewing deep inside him that's not sitting right.

While a stop-gap is alright, it almost seems like a slight to the guy you name captain. In Clark's case, everyone knew that it was Ovechkin's team; but why did they have to put the "C" on him?? It could have been due the youth of the team needing some kind of figurehead and Clark was the most experienced one there. What makes it interesting is the cases of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs of this season, where they have no captain. They have guys who could be put into that role, but yet-- nothing has come from it. Does that speak to the lack of leadership the vets on that team have or that they don't want one guy to stand out on a team full of leaders?? Obvious, the examples could be fit to the teams very easily if you think about it.

How do you know if a captain has worn out his welcome and when does it start becoming a distraction?? Most of the times, the captain get striped of his "C" due to fights with management, like Alexei Yashin in Ottawa, just being replaced by new blood like Mike Modano in Dallas, or the coach calling a player out like in Patrick Marleau's case this past summer in San Jose. Other than that-- it's almost due to the captain leaving to free agency, retirement, or in a somewhat rare case-- trade, where a captain loses his "C" from a team he was on. At least in Marleau's case, it woke him up for the regular season, but the true test for him will be in the playoffs. As far as wearing out a welcome, how much of a shot in the arm is it for the team, especially knowing they let their leader down. If the captain isn't safe from being targeted, you can only imagine how the players feel when it comes to whether or not they will be next to be called out, demoted, or even sent off the team.

Conversely to letting your captain down, what if the captain let the team down?? The fact of the matter is that Brind'Amour's play has been subpar at best in the past few seasons and really shouldn't have be a surprise that he could be wearing down physically. This is obviously a move that was in the making, but you would have only hoped that Brind'Amour would have been the one to announce he was stepping down as captain, rather than having the Canes management go up and almost run him down, so to speak, when it comes to stripping him of the captaincy.

By the way, the longest serving captain to date is Daniel Alfredsson since the 1999-2000 season.

While it's good for teams to actually excel their young stars into the leadership role, there's much better ways to do it than to trade away or strip your current captain of their role. Especially to do it mid-season, it has the ability to shake-up a teams psyche for the better or worse-- which is a delicate balance. Luckily, for the recent changes-- the Caps seemed to know the change was going to happen and were over it pretty quickly, while the Canes season couldn't get much worse. Even so, it may set a bad precedent for possible changes down the line.

Absurd Goalie Monday: Trevor Kidd

Since it's the time of year for the World Junior Championships, I should probably key in on someone who has been there before and won two championships with his country-- one as a back-up and one as a starter. And while his international success was not to bad, his subpar play when he was in the professional ranks is what people will remember him most for. At least he has some of the most rememberable pad sets of all time. Look kids, it's Trevor Kidd.

Thanks to his play with the Eastman Selects in Manitoba Midgets, Kidd was able to catch on solidly with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. Kidd was able to get some decent time as a back-up with the Wheaties, behind Kelly Hitchins, seeing 31 games. Kidd had an 11-13-1 record, which wasn't good enough to help the Wheat Kings into the playoffs. The 1989-90 season would see Kidd go right into the starter's role; getting 61 games and going 24-32-2. While he was able to get the Del Wilson Trophy for top goaltender in the WHL, he still couldn't help the Wheat Kings into the playoffs. Personal success came when Kidd was named to the World Junior team, but played back-up to Stephane Fiset, but got a gold medal out of it. His impressive season did get him plenty of buzz amongst scouts; which made Kidd the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 1990 Draft, as selected by the Calgary Flames. Kidd went ahead of Martin Brodeur (20th overall), which is a decision the Flames probably hate in hindsight. The move wouldn't have been if the Flames didn't trade with the Devils. That's right the Flames and Devils swapped first and second round picks the day of the Draft because the Flames wanted Kidd and knew the Devils would have pick him up ahead of them. The rest, they say, is history.

The 1990-91 season would finally give Kidd the success he had worked hard to get. While he started out in Brandon with a 10-19-1 record for the beginning of the season, Kidd was shipped out to the Spokane Chiefs, who would eventually be the WHL Champions and the representative of the WHL for the Memorial Cup. Kidd would take over the starting gig from Scott Bailey and went 8-3-0 in his 14 regular season games, with an astonishing 14-1 record in the playoffs. Kidd also won all three games in the Memorial Cup to close out a fantastic season for himself. That season included another trip to the World Juniors, where he started six of the seven games, capturing a second gold medal for himself.

The 1991-92 season had Kidd going here, there, and everywhere in between, with the Flames loaning out Kidd to the Canadian National Team. You see, back in the day of no NHLers in the Olympics, teams would loan out their prospects or lower-tier players to play for the National team, who would play in exhibitions throughout the world to get ready for the Olympic competitions. Kidd got a good amount of net time with the National team, playing 28 games and going a solid 18-4-4 in this tenure. Kidd would also be loaned out this third straight World Juniors team, but due to the turnaround of talent, the Canadians would finish sixth in that tournament. Kidd would only see one game in the Olympic Games in Albertville, France; which was a 10-0 destruction of Norway, but it was enough to get him a silver medal for his troubles.

The 1991-92 season also saw Kidd get his first taste of NHL action, playing in two games late in 1992, going 1-1-0 with a 4.00 GAA in his two games. The 1992-93 season had Kidd back in the learning process, playing with the Flames' IHL affiliate Salt Lake Golden Eagles for the season. Kidd fared okay in his first 30 games of professional action going 10-16-1 before falling to a leg injury in February which ended his season. To start the 1993-94 season, Kidd was up with the big club in Calgary, backing up Mike Vernon and held his own in his 31 appearances, putting up a 13-7-6 record and a 3.16 GAA. When Vernon departed after the season, it was Kidd's ship to steer, as he led the league with 43 starts in the lockout-shortened season of 1994-95 and put up an impressive 22-14-6 record with a 2.61 GAA and finished 7th in the Vezina Trophy balloting for the year. The playoff success wasn't too kind, however, as the Flames went out in the first round to the upstart San Jose Sharks in seven games. The 1995-96 season had Kidd sharing duties with Rick Tabaracci, but Kidd got a majority of the games. Yet, at the same time, he was the one with the worse record at 15-21-8 and a 2.75 GAA for the year, but only saw two games of playoff time, with the Flames bowing out in four games to Chicago. Kidd would regain his starter's role, this time over Tabaracci (who was dealt to Tampa early in the season) and Dwayne Roloson. Kidd's early season success to get Tabaracci moved wouldn't hold on as Kidd finished the year 21-23-6 with a decent 2.84 GAA and .900 save percentage.

A lot would change before the 1997-98 season, as Kidd and Gary Roberts were dealt from the Flames to the newly moved Carolina Hurricanes for Andrew Cassels and prospect Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Kidd would take the starter's role in a platoon of goalies, which included Sean Burke, Kirk McLean, Mike Fountain, and former AGM inductee, Pat Jablonski. Kidd played in 44 games, mostly due to missing seven games to a groin injury and seven games to a broken finger. Kidd went 21-21-3 with a great 2.17 GAA and .922 save percentage. The 1998-99 season wouldn't be so kind to Kidd. The Hurricanes had picked up Arturs Irbe from the Vancouver Canucks in the off-season, which gave him the starting role and didn't allow Kidd the time to get into the net as much. Kidd only got 25 games in the season, going 7-10-6, but still had a good GAA (2.86) and save percentage (.905). It was not enough, though.

Kidd was left unprotected for the Expansion Draft, for which he got picked up by the Atlanta Thrashers. However, his stay was non-existent as the Florida Panthers trade for Kidd in exchange for Gord Murphy, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Herbert Vasiljevs, and a sixth-round pick. Kidd made his presence felt in Florida quickly, going 14-4-2 in his first 21 games of the 1999-2000 season, but due to a freak accident in the Panthers' skills competition, Kidd was sidelined with a dislocated shoulder. He lost his only game in the AHL with the Louisville Panthers and then lost his next seven games back in Florida, putting him at 14-11-2 for the season, but better numbers with a 2.63 GAA and .915 save percentage. It was something Kidd could never recover from, especially after the Panthers picked up Roberto Luongo from the Islanders. The 2000-01 season saw Kidd and Luongo do battle for time, but Kidd's 10-23-6 record and dismal 3.31 GAA and .893 save percentage gave the nod to Luongo for the 2001-02 season. It was worse news that season as Kidd went 4-16-5 with a 3.21 GAA and .895 save percentage. With Luongo being the franchise of the Panthers, Kidd wasn't re-signed.

In August of 2002, Kidd would catch on as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ed Belfour was the work-horse on that team, which didn't allow Kidd to play much, which showed by his 19 games in the 2002-03 season. Even in those games, Kidd was suspect, going 6-10-2 with a 3.10 GAA and .896 save percentage. Kidd would see less time in the 2003-04 season, playing only 15 games, but with a better record of 6-5-2, but worse GAA at 3.36 and .876 save percentage, which would end up seeing Kidd lose his back-up role to Mikael Tellqvist. Kidd played one game in St. John's in the AHL, winning it and only allowing one goal.

Kidd would go back internationally, but not of his own doing. After waiting out as much as he could, Kidd went over to Europe in January of 2005 playing for HC Orebro 90 of the Swedish Third Division. Kidd played eight games with two shutouts and a 2.37 GAA. In May of 2005, Kidd signed with the Hannover Scorpions of the German Elite League, playing 45 games for them and going out with a 2.75 GAA and .907 save percentage, but no record is given, nor have I found them.

Though Kidd hasn't announced his official retirement, he hasn't been on a team since the end of the 2005-06 season with Hannover. Kidd has moved on, it seems, as he now owns the Mountain Bean Coffee Company, which has three locations throughout Canada.

Kidd never had it real easy in his career, but was able to perform very well under less than desirable circumstances. He had Junior success, International success, and minimum NHL success, but he did what he could with what was handed to him. He wasn't always on the best teams, but he always gave his teams the chances to win and chances to succeed. He just never seemed to get the help he needed.

Absurd Goalie Monday: Eric Fichaud

Oddly enough, this addition of the AGMs is somehow a continuation of last week's inductee, Jimmy Waite. This is another goalie from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the QMJHL who was picked in the first round, but for one reason or another-- never panned out as a starting goalie in the NHL. This week's installment of the AGM is Eric Fichaud, a memorable but forgetable goalie at it's best.

After a semi-decent season in midget AAA, Fichaud started off his major junior career with Chicoutimi during the 1992-93 season, immediately being thrown into a split starter's role with Sylvain Rodrigue, who I think is the only Latin-Quebecois in the history of the game. The next season, Fichaud was a key part in Chicoutimi's season, which saw them win the President's Cup, the QMJHL championship. Fichaud went 37-21-3, was named playoff MVP of the QMJHL, the top draft pick award, and the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy for top goalie in the Memorial Cup. With all the accolades, it was easy for the Toronto Maple Leafs to pick him 16th overall in the 1994 Entry Draft. In his final year of juniors during the 1994-95 season, Fichaud's playing time was limited as he struggled at times and had a young upstart in Marc Denis playing better than him in most cases.

Fichaud also had to deal with his first trade in the NHL without even playing a game, as his rights were traded from the Leafs to the New York Islanders for Benoit Houge and a draft pick. So, to start off his pro career, Fichaud went to the Worcester Ice Cats, the Islanders primary affiliate. He had a so-so season, going 13-15-6, but had respectable numbers of a 2.93 GAA and .913 save percentage. Thanks to some injuries and issues with Jamie McLennan and Tommy Salo, Fichaud got his chance in the show to back up Tommy Soderstrom. Fichaud appeared in 24 games that season and went 7-12-2 on a fairly bad Islanders team.

In the 1996-97 season, Fichaud was the starter for the beginning of the year, with Salo as his back-up after Soderstrom apparently got disenchanted with the team. It was a rough start for Fichaud, as he dropped nine of his first 16 starts and the play of Salo was good enough to take the starting job away from Fichaud. For the year, Fichaud finished 9-14-4 with a 3.10 GAA and .899 save percentage.

The 1997-98 season was the start of the end for Fichaud's NHL career. While Fichaud was a back-up to Salo, he got a start in December. During that, Fichaud injured his shoulder and was sidelined for seven games. Fichaud came back for six more games, but then was shelved for the season as he underwent surgery to repair the shoulder. In that season, Fichaud finished with a 3-8-3 record

That summer, Fichaud was traded twice. First, he was shipped to the Edmonton Oilers for Mike Watt, then before the season; Edmonton sent Fichaud to the Nashville Predators with Drake Berehowsky and Greg De Vries for Jim Dowd and Mikhail Shtalenkov. Fichard started out in Milwaukee of the IHL, going 5-2-1; but when he was called up to back-up Tomas Vokoun due to Mike Dunham being down to injury, Fichaud went 0-6-0 and dislocated his shoulder twice, the second time resulting in another season ending surgery.

The summer of '99 saw Fichaud recovering again and getting traded again, this time from Nashville to Carolina for a third-round pick. Fichaud was the back-up to workhorse Arturs Irbe, who didn't allow Fichaud to see much time. Fichaud was 3-5-1 in the games he played, but was placed on waiver in February of 2000 and picked up by the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs then sent him down to their AHL affilate, Quebec Citadelles where he proceeded to go 4-1-1. Fichaud started the season in Quebec for the 2000-01 campaign, having a brief stint in Montreal after being called up for injuries, in which he went 0-2. In Quebec, he played .500 hockey going 19-19-2 that season. It would be the last NHL action Fichaud would see.

At the start of the 2001-02 season, Fichaud announced his retirement from pro hockey, but it was short lived. He played later on in that season with the Krefeld Penguins of the German League, then came back to North America playing for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. He was signed by the Canadiens at the start of the 2002-03 season, but played for the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Habs AHL affiliate, for that season and the next going a combined 30-18-6 in those two seasons.

At the start of the 2004-05 season, Fichaud moved to the semi-pro Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) and played his first three seasons with Quebec RadioX and another one with St. Georges CRS Express. He is currently a free agent and it's unknown if he'll actually play once again.

There was high hopes for Fichaud when he was in juniors-- a classic butterfly goalie who could become a star player in the NHL. However, thanks to injuries, inconsistency, and horrible teams around him; Fichaud's bright career was stopped short of even blooming. Who knows what could've been for Fichaud if he could stay healthy and have support around him, but that's what happens with most careers of promising players-- always what-ifs.