Second-Half Surprises

The second half of the season always brings about drama, always brings about surprises, and players stepping up. Most of the time, it's a rookie who was in the shadows at the start, but slowly found their way out, but the theme of this year seems to be guys who were buried in the back of the media guides, but have found their way into the limelight, if only for a split second.

First off, Jamie Lundmark, who seemed to be destined to be a career minor-leaguer after a stellar junior career; has found new life in Calgary with 15 points in 20 games thus-far and really putting up the secondary scoring for the Flames. While his first tour with the Flames organization didn't bring much of anything, it seems that the second tour is going to be a defining moment for Lundmark's career and could turn a whole lot of things around for him going into the off-season, where he is a UFA. While he may not keep up this kind of pace for the duration and even into next season, Lundmark is bolstering a line-up that is already deep in scoring threats with Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen, Mike Cammalleri, and Daymond Langkow.

A lot of people seem to have gotten on the St. Louis Blues bandwagon and with youngsters T.J. Oshie and David Perron leading the charge, how can you fault anyone?? Perron is leading the team in assist and has been on a tear to end March, while Oshie has been starting to showoff his highlight reel abilities with some memorable moves and fantastic goals. There's a lot of people pulling for John Davidson to succeed in the front office, and if not this year-- definitely next year will be the crowning achievement for JD.

Out East, the revitalization of Cam Ward has been a sigh of relief for Canes fans. Ward has gone 18-8-2 since the All-Star break, has won nine of his last 12 starts, and has help solidify the Hurricanes into a playoff spot, if not a run at the Southeast Division championship. For an upstart who won a Stanley Cup and start to flame out the two years after, it's a good sign to see Ward shaking off the cobwebs and getting his swagger back.

However, the most intreging second-half story has to be Steve Sullivan in Nashville. Here's a guy who was out for two years and has come back and made up for so much lost time. Many thought when he was out with a back injury that he was going to go the way of his former teammate Eric Daze and never be the same again. Yet, much to the chagrin of many, Sullivan has played like a man possessed and couldn't have come back at a better time for the Predators. Already, Sullivan has 26 points in 35 games and seems to have breathed some much needed life into the Preds playoff existence. I'll go out on a limb right now and say he's got a good shot at the Masterson Award.

We have almost two weeks left in the season and there's still plenty to be decided. There's plenty of teams who need to get someone to step up big time and really help push the team through into the playoffs, but for some it may not be enough. It should be an interesting two weeks to see who shine and who will sulk.

Dog Days of March

Under cloak of secrecy, the NHL Commissioner, Gary "Love Child of Kevin Spacey and The Count" Bettman, went to Phoenix in order to tell the fans of the Coyotes, "Hey, you three-- don't worry, we won't move the team." Much to the confusion of the people he was talking to, as it turned out they were just vendors learning their section for the night's game. The commish said that there may be new ownership coming, but the NHL is going to keep the team in Phoenix until it commits financial suicide by signing every member of the the 1991 Winnipeg Jets team.

In light of recent events, I don't think that the area of Glendale minds if the Coyotes die a death, considering they rejected a notion of using tax money to help out the Yotes in their dire need. If the people don't want you there-- maybe it's something to give you das boot-- if you will.

This is the thing with Arizona and some of the "non-hardcore" sports cities, especially like Phoenix-- they are very particular about winners and if there's a team that doesn't win or create a buzz-- they are ignored and pushed aside. Look at the Suns-- they were craptastic for so long, but recently; they have been on the downturn of things and could be moved to the horizon. The Cardinals were a damn afterthought until their Super Bowl run last season, while the D-backs are in the love-hate relationship with their city. So, for the Coyotes who have been irrelevant for close to a decade now and then they go to the taxpayers for help....not the best way to go about it. Win, then they'll probably be more willing to keep you.

And let's be honest here, the fact that there's still a team in Phoenix playing in front of people who may or may not be rooting for the team and may or may not care-- that's not enough to make this team stop hemmoraging money like they're a sailor on shore leave. Mixed metaphors aside, maybe it's time to get rid of major league hockey in Arizona and leave it to the minor leagues to control that industry. It was a decent experiment, it was something that was fun while it lasted, but it's time for it to be done with and move it to a city that is a little more deserving of it.

Especially in the financial climate that the world is in, every little bit will help. Moving a team to a city or demographic that will actually be willing to put revenue into the team, it would help the financial stability of the team and will help the financial stability of the league-- increasing the revenue and thus increasing the cap. If the NHLPA were to have a strong voice in this, they should be pushing for the team to be uprooted if that's the only way to sell the team. That way, the players are getting more bang for their buck and more income that could come into their lives.

It could be time to turn the lights out on the Coyotes. Albeit, the reality of them move is not going to happen because of the fact of the absurd lease they have to deal with and breaking it would pretty much put anyone trying to buy the team to move it out of the picture, which very much limits the options you have in who buys the team. The league and team pretty much have to find someone who is in the area, who believes in the area, and thinks they can grow the team and tournequette the situation when it comes to money.

And if you can do that, you may want to sell that ocean-front property that's right next to the arena.

Number One With A Bullet

Brian Duff of The Hockey News posted a blog about searching for a #1 goalie at an affordable price. The subject he brings up is Josh Harding, who will be a RFA come summer time and could have some teams flocking over him who may need some goaltending help, with the Colorado Avalanche being the example he put out there. Duff says that Harding's camp shouldn't be in a hurry to re-up in Minny and see what comes along.

There's a couple things working against Harding. First off, he's a RFA, which means that any offer sheet he signs to, the Wild could match. The teams have to be careful they don't get into a Dustin Penner situation and wildly overbid for him just to see him not pan out as a #1 money keeper. The second thing against him is the fact there are not many teams looking for a starter right now, with the exception of Colorado. You could throw Edmonton on that list depending on how well Jeff Drouin-Deslauiers pans out, as well as Detroit seeing how much longer they can deal with Chris Osgood and how much faith they still have in Jimmy Howard, plus seeing if Ty Conklin will come back. Outside of those squads, everyone is sured up on their goaltending.

With the mention of Ty Conklin, that's another problem for Harding, the amount of goalies who would be on the open market that other teams would go for in order to not risk losing draft picks in compensation. With the likes of Manny Fernandez, Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki, Scott Clemmensen, Mathieu Garon, Brian Boucher, amongst others on the market-- they have proven they can be a better #1 option than Harding, be a tad more affordable, and not have teams lose a draft pick or picks when it comes to signing a RFA.

To disagree with Duff, if I were Harding, I'd re-up with Minnesota for maybe one or two years, nothing too long. It may not be the most glamorous position as back-up to Niklas Backstrom, but you never know when a situation could come about where Backstrom slumps hard or goes down to injury and Harding jumps in there to save the day and maybe give him more leverage the next time around in discussions. And if it doesn't work out-- wait until he's able to hit the open market in order for him to be more enticing to pick him up, because with that RFA tag on him and so many veteran goalies with starter backgrounds hitting the open market, they'd be the first choice overtop of an unproven RFA back-up.

Don't Want Him to Celebrate; Stop Him

The hot topic, and I don't mean the store that 12-year-olds go to in order to be punks/goths/young republicans, is Alex Ovechkin and his 50-goal celebration last night in Tampa. There are plenty who have weighed in on the blogosphere, there's many NHLers who have weighed in on it who played in the game and those who were on the outside looking in. I'm sure Don Cherry will weigh in on it Saturday and now-- it's time for me to do so.....mostly because I tried something else, and it flopped before I started.

For those who are still unfamiliar with it, here it is in all it's YouTube glory.



Fascinating.

Anyway, was this a little over the top?? Sure, of course it was. It was very Terrell Owens-esque and it's something you really don't want to see at all in the game-- but dude just scored his 50th goal, the first one to hit it this year and the third time in four seasons he's done it; that's cause for celebration. He's going to be the Caps all-time goal leader soon enough and could be the best Russian and left winger to play the game when all is said and done-- he can celebrate. If you don't want him to, stop the kid. It's as simple as that.

People have squawked about it being disrespectful and that the Bolts should have done something about it or will do something about it when they play Washington next-- but this was done in the first period almost eight minutes in. The Bolts had 52 minutes to do something and they didn't-- now that could have something to do with the team itself, but it's neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is that if you want to stop Ovechkin from celebrating at all, you have to be able to stop him.

Plenty are clamoring to see what Don Cherry will say, which will obviously be negative because that's how Cherry was last time when talking about Ovechkin. The one thing I want to know is whether or not he enjoyed the outlandish celebration by Tiger Williams or Tie Domi, in which they ride their sticks down the ice. If he did say he enjoyed that, then he's nothing more than a hypocrite when talking about Ovechkin's celebrations. For sure, Cherry would reply (if he actually read this blog) that Williams and Domi rarely score and they can get happy when they do so, but isn't a bit of a double standard if they can get over-the-top excited, but a kid with true skill and talent can't. As much as I enjoy Cherry's rants, raves, and suits-- he's losing his goard to think that this is any worse than what has been done by some in the past. Yet, he's a traditionalist and will always think anything not from the late-1970s is crap-- just look at his fine, fine suits.

There's plenty of "traditionalist," or people who call themselves that, who hate Ovechkin's over-the-top joy of scoring, but you have to remember-- Ovechkin isn't a traditionalist, he'll never be a traditionalist; he's a rock-star. He's bigger than life and shows it night-in and night-out. He doesn't want to be part of the flock, he wants to be the black sheep and standout, which he is succeeding in. He has a right to do that too, because he's just that damn good. So keep on keeping on Ovie-- but don't make this a common occurance. If it's a special moment, fine-- go outlandish. Yet, if it's #24 on the season and you pull a stunt like this and it's not a memorable goal-- I may have to change my thought about this whole thing.


EDIT @ 5:30 MT-- Thanks to Hangar 39 by way of Puck Daddy, but LA Kings announcer Bob Miller just went up 100-fold in my book, which works because I loved him in D2.


Just remember Bob, I'm all about the Kings.

Can Malkin Have "Hart" With Crosby as His Teammate??

Barring a huge disaster or a big surge from someone on the outside looking in, Evgeni Malkin will most definitely bring home the Art Ross Trophy for most points in the season. That, of course, will set him up, most likely, as a candidate for the Hart Trophy for league MVP. The big question that I will pose here is whether or not Malkin can be the considered the MVP with Sidney Crosby as his teammate and the "face of the league"??

I put this thought out there, mostly because the Hart is supposed to go to the player who is most valuable to his team. With two guys like Crosby and Malkin on the same team, you'd think they'd almost cancel each other out in terms of voting because how could you say one is better than the other?? It's not like last season where Crosby was out for a good chunk of the season and Malkin carried the team, for the most part, in the regular season. This year, Malkin has played only five more games than Crosby, so it's not like you could say Malkin was most valuable to his team when Crosby is just as valuable. Though, the Hart voters could be hackney and give a co-MVP award so no one on the Penguins gets their feelings hurt, but I doubt that would happen.

Granted, many could bring up the run Wayne Gretzky had of Hart Trophies during the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty that he was on a team of great players, which in hindsight is true. However, when you look at the stats and the play, Gretzky far and away lead the team on the ice and made those around him better.

This brings up who could be considered as a candidate for the Hart Trophy. Tim Thomas in Boston could definitely be considered as a top choice with his performance this year (albeit, recently it hasn't been too good), he still leads the league in GAA and save percentage. A guy like Zach Parise could come to some voters' mind when you consider how much he stepped up into an offensive role on the Devils with their other top dog in Martin Brodeur out for the weight of the season. Joe Thornton and Jarome Iginla are both unsung leaders on their teams and really don't get the press thanks to "East Coast Bias". And speaking of the ECB, last but not least-- Alex Ovechkin will definitely make a run at a repeat of Hart Trophies.

It'll be an interesting look at who the finalist will be for the big award at the end of the day and to see where the heads of the voters are when they actually cast it. I don't really envy their decision, but wish I could have a chance to take a hack at voting who could be deemed MVP. How does Scott Clemmensen for Hart sound??

Laraque Staging Fight For Staged Fights

The GM meetings in Naples, Florida has brought a lot of buzz to the hockey world and to some role players in the NHL these past few days. The biggest buzz being Georges Laraque's reaction to the idea that a staged fight would be a 10-minute misconduct and would be up to the referee to decide if it was staged or not.

Now, Laraque calls the idea a joke and says that it'll take fighting out of the game, as well as destroy the careers of many of the one-dimensional players in the league. Laraque also feels slighted that, as a player who's livelihood could be effected by this rule, he wasn't invited to partake in the discussion of it. Obviously, GM who are there in their little section of the media row aren't on the ice, but it is what it is.

Before I go any further, let me preface the following (which I'm sure you'll figure out what it is soon enough) by saying that fighting shouldn't be taken out of the game. It's a part of the game for a reason, it's what sets the NHL and hockey in general apart from the other sports in the lexicon. The emotion in the game is very high and the physicality of the game should be a selling point of the NHL and other leagues.

With that said, the staged fighting and the fights that happen after a clean hit are pure and utter bullshit. The staged fights are the worst of all, especially since most of them have no meaning to them except for being the sideshow act of the game. Laraque is notorious for these, even with A/V proof when he get mic'd up for local TV games. The staged fight takes away any flow from either team, it sometimes turns into a big hug fest, and just puts a bad face on fighting because it has no emotion, especially five minutes into the first period of a 0-0 game. If I want a staged fight, I'll go to YouTube and watch some WWE clips. Plus, if staged fights were a huge draw, how come there weren't that many people to back the Hockey Enforcers Fight Night gimmick from a couple years back??

The fighting after a big hit is a little more manageable, because it does have something to do with passion of the game and the intensity of it, but when did clean hits become a set-up for a fight?? Didn't people used to love hockey because of the big hits?? Now, you can't have a guy like Dion Phaneuf set a guy up without the threat of him being mugged afterwards for it. The perfect example is Tyler Sloan this year laying out Daymond Langkow, then Rene Bourque flying in for no reason, except to retaliate by dropping the mitts. If it was a dirty hit, sure-- I could understand a little better for stepping up for your teammate, but if it's a solid hit and you do that-- to me it signals you think your guy is weak and can't take a hit and be alright with it. As much as fighting is a part of the game, so is a solid, clean body check.

As far as removing one-dimensional hockey players from the game-- here's an idea, get a new dimension. Get into the two dimensions so you can be equal to the paper that your name is written on when the line-ups are exchanged. If you're a giant oaf who can bearly skate and only purpose is to get less than 30 seconds of ice time, maybe this wasn't the game for you. No offense, odds are I wouldn't be able to do the fight load they can-- but at the same time, you may want to have something to fall back on if fighting doesn't turn out to be the thing for you. I think in the NHL today, you can't be a one-dimensional guy and survive in the league for more than two or three years.

It's all well and good that Laraque wants to step up for his brethern in the hockey world, but at the same time; reality needs to kick into his head and realize that maybe it's time for a new career path in terms of what he can and can't do on the ice. With the way the game is being focused on, the idea that fighting will be the selling hook is not going to happen. Maybe pre-lockout it would have been, but now it's about youth, speed, skill, and scoring. Fighting will always play it's part in the game, but it having to do with the game and not for the sake of fighting alone is the only reason it should still be included.

Looking Towards June

Since the trade deadline is over with, the next big acquisition day is the NHL Entry Draft, which will be held June 26th and 27th in beautiful Montreal. And while it's the norm to rank the teams as winners and losers after the deadline, I also find it to be hack. Plus, in the words of Ron Bennington, I've got my own radio show, so you can hear the opinions there.

With most of these moves, you can tell some of these teams are already looking forward to June and their place in the standings are showing that they're going to be in the big hunt for the top five picks in the Draft. So, if the season were to end today...the deadline would have been worthless and we would all feel ripped-off for it ending early. In any event, here's a look at who would be at the top of the Draft chart and who I think will be taken in the top five.

1. NY ISLANDERS: John Tavares, London Knights: While it's not what Tavares probably wanted, he will automatically become the face of the franchise and the guy who will lead this team back to its days of mediocrity. Plus, with youngsters like Kyle Okposo, Jesse Joensuu, and Blake Comeau already in the mix, it'll be the youth movement on Long Island, which may or may not bring them a new arena and new fans. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if Tavares could step in and contribute immediately, but there's also that outside thought he do something to stall his start with the team and maybe create a ruckus to get onto a better team.

2. ATLANTA THRASHERS: Victor Hedman, MoDo: Sure, the defense in Atlanta hasn't been strong since William Tecusmseh Sherman has been in power, Hedman's choice could change all of that. Not only is he NHL size and skill ready, he could very well be what turns this franchise around for the better. They already have offense in Atlanta and with the right help on defense, the goaltending could come around perfectly. Plus, with Garnet Exelby, Zach Bogosian, and Boris Valabik in the rebuilding part of the defense-- Hedman would be the fourth man to complete this perfect storm of defense.

3. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING: Jordan Schroeder, University of Minnesota: As a Freshman, Schroeder has been amazing for the Gophers, tied for the team and WCHA lead in points with teammate Ryan Stoa. With his ability to stay in the NCAA, it could allow him to grow as a player and allow the Bolts to get their act together to accomodate Schroeder to play alongside Steve Stamkos. With is great hands and solid passing ability, Schroeder should be the set-up man for the future in Tampa.

4. OTTAWA SENATORS: Evander Kane, Vancouver Giants: Kane is what the Senators are looking for in a player. A solid center with scoring abilities who is coming into his own. While he may need more seasoning with the Giants, what better team to get it done with than one of the best in the junior hockey. Once Kane is ready, he could be the secondary scoring punch they look for or he could very well be a part of the primary scoring in the Sens system.

5. COLORADO AVALANCHE: Jared Cowen, Spokane Chiefs: While his season is done with a knee injury, the Avalanche will look towards Cowen as their future on the blue line. With the size and strength, as well as hockey IQ; Cowen is going to be a stallwart on the blue line for some time in Colorado, or any other team he could go to. With Kevin Shattenkirk waiting in the wings as well, it could be a dominant one-two punch that the Avalanche hasn't seen in a while.

So, that's the top-five as I see it right now, mock wise. One thing is true though, we won't see a goaltender go until maybe the late-second, early third rounds. It goes along with the ebbs and flow of the hockey world where now the skaters and scorers are the top dogs in the prospect pile, while goaltenders are floundering and waiting for another upswing of talent.

Armchair GM: To Move or To Maintain

We're about 24 hours away from the NHL trade deadline and the rumors are moving quicker than two people meeting on online dating. The biggest question for the GMs in all of this will be how much is too much when it comes to getting what they want. Who are you willing to risk, whether it be from your roster or your farm system, to get the possible missing piece of the puzzle needed to get into the playoffs and have a chance at the Stanley Cup. As well, are they willing to disrupt a certain chemistry in the room in order to have this rental player in the room for 20 games, tops.

For teams like Florida and Columbus, who some never thought would be in this position this late into the season, they have to tread carefully in what they do. For the Panthers, they will not move Jay Bouwmeester, unless they get an amazing return, because they will need him if they get into the playoffs. The Blue Jackets have been longing for some defensive help and a center, but they have to make sure that they are able to risk what they give up in order to fill that void, or else they turn into the Atlanta Thrashers where they give up the farm for a rental and tank in the playoffs.

Then you have front-runners who may need one or two spots to cover, but they would have to give up too much in order to get that. Therefore, they would probably hold tight with what they have, rather than give up a lot to get what could be little in return. If they are that high in the standings as it is, odds are there's a reason for it and they may not want to tinker with the spirit of things.

Plus, it's not like there's a big deal to be made. Sure, you hear all these unfounded rumors from people who don't have an inside guy, it's just a weekend janitor who is getting his rumors from the sound guys playing NHL09. However, when all is said and done, there could be a blockbuster to shock everyone, but the odds on it are not that good. The predictable names will probably be moved for nothing more than prospects and/or picks, it's just a matter of what team they will go to. I mean, Bill Guerin has been traded since Saturday-- but to where and for what is still TBA, which creates the unrest amongst the public.

It's always a hectic day for GM, but it's always a fun one for the viewing and listening public. The rumors, the jumping the gun speculation, the Sportsnet Frat Party studio-- amazingness will come from it all. I know our show that night will be fantastically done with Spector's Hockey Lyle Richardson joining us for a long time and breaking down what this means for all involved and how much slept he was able to get from it all.

Will We See Another

While I was a little rough on the Devils organization and Martin Brodeur when they sent Scott Clemmensen down, they have seemed to prove me wrong with their decision. Since returning, Brodeur has recorded shutouts 99 and 100, which puts him three behind Terry Sawchuk for career shutouts and the three wins puts him at 547, four behind Patrick Roy's all-time record.

This begs the question, with the dominance we have seen in the crease from Brodeur and Roy in the past decade-- will we see anything like this in the new wave of faces behind the mask??

In a world where it seems that platooning in the pipes is a constant and where anyone can jump out of the blue to take over a starters role, will there be a constant starter in the future to be able to sniff the success Brodeur and Roy have had?? Also, with a diminishing crop of stand-out goaltenders coming through the ranks, you have to wonder if there's anyone out there to step-up their game in order to make their way up the table and get to the top of the mountain with Brodeur and Roy.

There's always one or two prospects who are deemed as the next big thing coming through the systems, but once they get to the show-- they can't come through. Whether it's a product of the system they were brought up in or just not being able to handle the pressure of the NHL grind, something never seems to happen for these young netminders. Granted, Steve Mason could very well break that mold, but only time will tell if he can keep this pace up with the team in front of him.

Also have the surprise goalies, who were forever back-ups, but somehow steal the starting role from the incumbent, only to find out that they weren't that solid of a starter to being with, just stole a few games against weaker opponents. Sure, there's plenty who can keep the starting role and actually prove to be good, but then you have guys like Craig Anderson and Brent Johnson who don't have the ability to have the day-to-day grind, thus making it a platoon situation from there on.

Plus, you look at all the injuries that have been happening with star goaltenders this year. Brodeur with his arm, Roberto Luongo with his groin problems, and others-- it allows the back-ups to step up and those their game to play out. Of course, it turns into a situation where controversy looms when the starter returns if the back-up just played out of their mind....but of course, the back-up then wants a place where he can start, gets traded there, and just completely burns out horribly.

Kari Lehtonen could be an example of a system letting him down, as the Thrashers haven't had anything solid defensively....well, forever. You can also chalk up Lehtonen's lack of success to his injuries as well, but when you're barraged with the amount of shots he usually is-- you're going to break down quickly. Chris Mason is a perfect example of a back-up stealing a starter's role only to have his flaws picked out very quickly, though the Nashville system hasn't brought about a solid starter since they traded away Tomas Vokoun. While the jury is still out on what Clemmensen could want once he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer or what could happen with the deadline looming and teams in need of goaltending help.

In a world of where goaltenders are based on the "What have you done for me lately" model, it's a very far-fetched claim to think anyone will be trying to get the records of Roy, Brodeur, and Sawchuk. Platooning, injury and rushing young talent will hinder anyone's attempts to try and get to the records these three have reached.

How Not To Treat a Goalie 101

This is what happens when you keep your team at the top of the standings while your all-world goalie is injured for the majority of the season-- a trip back to the AHL.

That's right kids, with Martin Brodeur coming back; Scott Clemmensen was sent down to the Lowell Devils to make room for him. Clemmensen, who went 25-13-3 with a 2.39 GAA and .917 save percentage in Brodeur's absense, is back to riding the bus after pretty much putting together a dream season and keeping the Devils at the top of the Eastern Conference standings while Brodeur recovered.

Now, I understand that Brodeur is the best goalie out there today, but you would think that the Devils would be much more willing to part ways with Kevin Weekes than Clemmensen. Sure, it's good that Clemmensen doesn't have to go through waivers, but still-- where the hell did the loyalty go in the system when a guy like Clemmensen gets this as a reward from the team he held together.

We'll see how this all pans out in the end, but if I'm Clemmensen; this is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth, no matter what kind of front I put on for the media. And to be honest, the Devils will have to offer a damn sweet deal to get my services back next season, since Clemmensen will probably get plenty of offers this summer from every team who could use a solid goalie for a valued price.

While I don't have hatred or fandom for the Devils, I want karma to kick them in their ass for this. As much as I respect Brodeur, I'd like to see him fail for the rest of the season. I'd like to see an early exit with Brodeur between the pipes for the hockey gods to show the organization that you don't treat a guy who save the season for you like they did with Clemmensen.

Around The Rink 02.24.09

-Tom Renney is out and it appears John Tortorella is in as head coach for the New York Rangers. Renney's demise came after 10 losses in their last 12 games and just a complete lack of desire coming from the Rangers side of things. Tortorella was released by the Bolts in June and should be a great fit for the New York media, especially Larry Brooks. You have to wonder if the combination of Brian Burke and John Tortorella being united in Toronto could just block out the rest of the hockey world with the amount of quotables given in the center of the hockey universe??

-With that, all four coaches who started the year with those NHL Premiere games in Europe have now been fired. With the next round of teams announced to be taking the European Vacation, you have to wonder if those coaches may sit this one out in hopes their assistants get fired over them.

-The Buffalo Sabres playoff hopes could be riding on how Patrick Lalime does if Ryan Miller's ankle injury is severe. Miller was run over by Scotty Gomez and suffered a mild high ankle sprain which has him sidelined indefinitely. Lalime could possibly carry the workload, but he wouldn't be the first option to go to in this situation. You'd have to wonder if there's a rental out there the Sabres could be in the market for just in case Miller is out for an extended amount of time and Lalime fails horrificially.

-Speaking of goalies, Martin Brodeur could be back in the line-up for the Devils as early as Thursday. This will put the Devils in an interesting position that they haven't had since '92-'93-- a goaltending controversy. Do you go with Brodeur, who is arguably the best goaltender in this era or stick with Scott Clemmensen, who has played very well in the absense of Brodeur?? It's a good situation to be in, however-- two decent goalies at your disposal for what could be a deep playoff run.

-With the trade deadline coming up, the thought of who is buying, who is selling, who will be bought and who will be sold pops into everyone's head. While there's plenty of rumors, there's plenty of indecision as well. With some names out there, there's pros and cons to all the deal will be there and it could change any fate of the season. Plus, my thought as a GM is that you could always trade them before or at the Draft in order to get them out of your hair while still dealing with the possible playoff run.

-The Lightning may be in the market for defensemen, but we all know they don't like them at all. However, it could be necessitiy because of Paul Ranger and Andrej Meszaros being out for the season for torn labrums in their left shoulders. It's amazing how you can go from little defensement to negative defensemen like that. But, it's just another chapter in the Bolts circus of stories this year. If they need young defensemen, there's always a captain by the name of Lecavalier they could deal out if need be

Habs At It Again

The story of the Kostitsyn's and organized crime in Montreal has taken on a life of it's own, but of course-- this is not something that is unknown to the world of the NHL, nor the world of the Montreal Canadiens. We all remember Jose Theodore's run-in with the law in regards to organized crime and his father's possible involvement with loan-sharking.

Plus, you have the curious case of the the Russians being controlled by the organized crime in Russian while they play in the NHL. Such names as Pavel Bure, Alexei Zhitnik and, Alex Mogilny, to name just a few. The CBC's "Fifth Estate" did a piece about this situation back in 1999, which involved Bure, Valery Kamensky, and Slava Fetisov. PBS's "Frontline" had a story about the mafia's "power play" in the NHL, while Play the Game has a pretty big piece about the different types of scenarios that happens, which is quite a solid read.

However, it seems that this happens every few years-- especially with those who come from the Eastern Bloc nations. Whether it's gullibility or contact they made before they reached the NHL, but somehow-- these kind of stories surface once every 5-7 years with the NHL. We had a some kind of hypothesis like this when Evgeni Malkin has his little dilemna before he came into the NHL. It's something that almost can't be avoided when it comes to Russian superstars however, especially if they are high-profile ones. You almost have to wonder what will happen if the NHLers go over the Sochi for the 2014 Olympics.

Yet, while on some message boards, hockey fans believe this is a black-eye for the face of the game. I don't know how some could see this as a big deal for the league, when other leagues in North America could have something like this (much like the MLB) and it passes like it's nothing at all. The NFL and NBA has stuff like this all the time, but like my friend and guest of FOHS Kym "With a 'y'" said: "Because 90% of the time the NHL behaves itself. Steroids and misdemeanors are so common in other sports that people are used to it."

And that's the truth. The NHL can keep it's nose-clean so much, but the moment that the league has something scandalous happen to it-- it's a huge deal. People make this out to be the biggest thing ever and yet, it passes like that and it usually guilt by association, but not direct association. Also, it's when the kids are younger and more adept to be influenced by these possible connections.

In the end, if there's nothing the Kostitsyn's are involved in directly, it's another happenstance of the connections they made as young, vulnerable hockey players who could believe they could live beyond their means by making some friends they don't know all that well, but they live a high life; so it attracts them. If they didn't do anything wrong-- it's a non-issue and really all for naught.

However in the biggest anniversary in this storied franchise, the news has been nothing but bad as of late. With the team slumping and rumors of the night life being too much for the youngsters, it's the perfect storm for a collapse the size of the Ottawa Senators of '07-'08.

Around The Rink 02.16.09

-The Penguins fired Michel Therrien, putting the fate of the Penguins dwindling playoff hopes in the hands of Dan Bylsma. It's something that seemed to be in the works as the divide between players and coach seemed to be expanding as the year went on. Though the injuries didn't help, the team didn't seem to get up for the games they needed to. With the come from behind blow out the Leafs put on the Pens Saturday night just cemented Therrien's fate. Here's hoping for the organization that Bylsma is the right change for the Pens in order to get them into the playoffs.

-I don't care how much people try to sell it, I don't see Mike Green as a Norris candidate right now. Yes, he's the highest scoring defenseman with 50 points, he's a +28 on the year, and is a big threat for the Caps scoring. However, I see Green as more of a fourth forward than a defenseman out there on the ice. Though he may not be considered a defensive liability as some people may want to point out, but when you're on a line with Ovechkin more often than not-- odds are that you won't have to deal with the defensive side of things too much. Unless Green becomes more of a Scott Stevens kind of player through his career (minus the limo incident we don't talk about), I can't really correlate Mike Green and Norris Trophy, because most points does not a good defenseman make.

-So, with Martin Brodeur coming back, the thought of a goalie controversy in New Jersey is almost unfathomable. However, with Scott Clemmensen's hot play, the thought of Brodeur being thrown back in net full time once he returns to the line-up is all but a sure thing. Many believe that the Devils would be fools not to put Brodeur right back into net, because he is Martin Brodeur. Yet, at the same time-- how can you bench a guy like Clemmensen who has held down the fort so well and then throw him to the curb for name appeal rather than ability?? I don't envy Brent Sutter for having to make this kind of decision in order to give the Devils the best chance to win the Cup.

-Hey, Sean Avery's back kids. That's right, the troubled forward debuted with the Hartford Wolfpack last night. Aside from a little skirmish during the game, didn't seem like Avery mattered too much at all. He also said that during the get-togethers he held back and didn't say anything "Old Sean" would have. Great, he's talking about himself in third person, past tense. Over under three weeks on when Avery goes back to his old self again.

-We're a year away and the 2010 Olympic talk is starting. Brian Burke, the US GM, and Steve Yzerman, the Canadian GM, are heavily under the microscope for this one. On top of that, the Canadians are under pressure to come up with something other than their traditional logo. With the logo debate almost as big of a headline as who Yzerman will pick, there's a lot riding on Team Canada's display in Vancouver and it seems they want to look their best if they feel like they'll play their best.

Bankruptcy vs. Bandwagoning

A friend of mine back in DC is very upset that she's not able to get a ticket to a Caps game anymore because the team has become so popular. She's gone as far as saying she's done with hockey as a whole because of the bandwagoners and people who don't know all that much about hockey swapping up the tickets in lieu of fans who have been there the entire time supporting the team in their darkest days.

While I can understand her pain, it brought about the conundrum of whether a fan would like to see the team succeed and be financially stable while avoiding rumors of a possible move in the midst of not being able to get a seat or would a fan rather be able to get a ticket to a game whenever they wanted, but have to deal with the thought the team may not be in that building next season??

I think it's quite the thought provoking ideology, especially when it was brought up about that the people who buy the tickets know nothing of the sport and are of the "puck bunny" variety, as well as the "pretty boy" mentality that the Caps and hockey in general has brought about in one way or another. I mean, it's hard to argue that the NHL has started to become a filter with some "pretty boys" who could possibly be doing some work for the Gap or some other clothing company-- but you can't blame them-- it's genetics. If they couldn't play the game and all they did was look stylish; I could understand why the rage would happen-- but some of these pretty boys can play. But the thought of people buying up tickets that know nothing of the game is very enraging to some, which brings about the question that has been posed prior.

Hockey is a sport that is a niche in the States, at best-- fans should know it and accept it for what it is. If you're going to rely on the die-hards in any city, you'd be back down to the six Canadian teams and maybe 10 US teams. The bandwagon fans are the ones who help carry some of these ticket splurges and if a team is winning and is the talk of the market, of course people are going to go be part of the fad. Who knows-- if they go enough and learn enough; they'd soon become die-hards and thus the experiment worked when the team isn't the flavor of the month. Especially in a place like DC, they have the perfect storm for bandwagoners-- the only game in town winning, arguably the top player to watch in the NHL, and they're winning at a solid pace, especially at home. When you're the only game in town worth watching-- you're going to have people wanting a piece.

Conversely, if you have a team like Atlanta, Nashville, or Long Island who are in trouble financially and where you really couldn't get rid of tickets fast enough-- are the die-hards enough to keep the team in town if another owner or city came calling?? With the teams doing horrificially as they seem to be doing-- even some of the die-hards are throwing up their hands and wondering where the support for the team is coming from and how they keep staying in the city for the long run.

Bandwagoners are a necessary evil in any sport, but especially hockey-- where exposure in the US is always wanted and always needed. If you have a team that's winning, has a lot of marketable players, and a staff in the front office willing to get the team's name and players out there as much as possible-- the bandwagoners will come and will enjoy their experience there. The bottom line is that if the building is full-- it doesn't matter who's in the seats; money will be made to keep the stability of the franchise alive.

So, as much as it's a bitch not to get a ticket because people have beat you to the draw, it's probably the best for the long run....and let's be honest, it's easier to watch the game at home, drinking all the beer you want, and not having to deal with a long trip home because you're already there. Plus, if it gets bad-- you can flip the channel to some kind of crap.

Avery Is Ready To Return, But Is The NHL Ready??

By all accounts, Sean Avery will be cleared of his sabbatical in the NHL/PA Behavioral Modification Brainwashing Seminar soon, thus will begin his long haul back to the NHL. As Darren Dreger mentioned in his article about this, Avery is still a member of the Stars and it's their decision to find on of their 103 AHL affiliates that will take Avery on their roster once he's ready to play again, send him down there and maybe bring him back on re-entry waivers to hope he gets pluck off there from some team.

It's obvious that the Stars don't want him. They're 16-7-3 without him and they are on the verge of getting in the playoffs after they were written off in November. That alone could show what kind of guy he is, when he leaves the team finally starts to get better and play like they have a purpose in life. That could be a deterant right there.

The big factor in this is whether or not there's an AHL affiliate of the Stars that would be willing to take Avery to give the Stars a chance to get him off their hands. The Manitoba Moose already said they wouldn't be willing to take him onto the roster at all. That leaves five affiliates that may or may not be willing to expose their young players to a personality like Avery's. This is one of the big reasons why NHL teams need to have a primary affiliate so that, not only do the players who are on the bubble of the main roster and AHL rosters know where they're going all the time, but also that if you have a troubled player-- you tuck him down there to straighten him out.

Albeit, it's hard to judge Avery, not knowing what this program has done for him-- whether it has either changed him for the better or if he remains to be the same old Avery with more reasons to be pissed off because the doctors and workers there are idiots. So, the questions remains-- is there a NHL team out there who would take him off the Stars' hands??

Some people have speculated that the Rangers would be the top pick since Tom Renney was able to control him somewhat last season and because it was New York and he would have a lot of things to do there to keep him occupied. However, this late into the season, the chemistry is already set in stone and some teams will be more than hesistant to put someone like Avery, who has a checkered past to put it nicely, on their team-- no matter what the reward could be from the risk that is taken. Sure, it's unfair to an extent, but until Avery shows that he has actually changed for the better, there's going to be little interest in wanting to take him onto the roster. Though that make the circle vicious since he can't show people he has changed if no one wants to put him on a roster, AHL or otherwise. So that again puts Avery at a disadvantage of that.

It'll be a very slippery slope for Avery to climb up to get back to the limelight of the NHL and there's going to be an added obstacle with everyone having his eyes on him looking for one more imperfection to give them reason to not take him onto their roster. I personally think Avery is great at his role as an agitator and instigator, but are other teams going to look past what he's done and see what he's capable of doing, if he in fact has gotten his behavior in check or will the history of him being a nuisance in the lockerroom and in the media make teams very skeptical of how he could actually benefit the team in the long-run??

Only time will tell....