Okydoke... it's time. Let's start our pronosticating (with Cup winning odds) at the top...
Playoff Teams
1. Detroit Red Wings (4-1) - Start with a base recipe of the Stanley Cup Champion. Add one of the game's better forwards in Marion Hossa. Throw in a dash of depth in the form of defenseman Brad Stuart and goalie Ty Conklin. There ya' go...
Someone's got to step up to beat the champ (or knock them out of the favorites spot).
2A. San Jose Sharks (8-1) - A good team, probably a very good one. The Sharks have had the talent to compete for the Cup for a couple years now, but have actually done a few different things to try to get different playoff results. The addition of veteran blueliners Dan Boyle and Rob Blake along with former Red Wing assistant coach Todd McLellan behind the bench may not win the Sharks the Cup, but it may (and it's worth a shot).
2B. Dallas Stars (8-1) - Sorta like the Sharks, but a little different. They were a good team last year and should be improved offensively with an entire season of Brad Richards. Additionally, a solid group of young defensemen will be a year older and wiser. The Sharks likely have more talent than the Stars, but I view each team's potential as being on the same plane... high.
4. Anaheim Ducks (10-1) - Always tough, always... well, tough. The Ducks will benefit from the absence of questions about Teemu Selanne and Scott Neidermayer because... they're not absent, but losing Matthieu Schneider to salary cap considerations should hurt. Scoring will come from both the aforementioned Sellane as well as the improving Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and... the much ballyhooed Bobby Ryan.
5. Chicago Black Hawks (20-1) - The bandwagon is already getting pretty full, but I tend to agree with the opinion out there that something interesting is brewing in the Windy City. The addition of solid goaltending in the form of Cristobal Huet and flashy (maybe even really really good) defense from Brian Campbell should combine nicely with the excellent youth provided by Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook. I'd be surprised if the Hawks don't make the playoffs... especially in a weak Central Division.
6A. Calgary Flames (30-1) - Well, someone's got to win the Northwest Division, right?
6B. Edmonton Oilers (30-1) - See above.
8. Phoenix Coyotes (30-1) - It's not an easy call to predict the 'Yotes will make the playoffs, but I think they're moving in a good direction. Ilya Bryzgalov will see lots and lots of shots, though, given the loss of young defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton in the Olli Jokinen trade.
Teams That Might Slide In
Minnesota Wild (40-1) - Could make the playoffs out of the very peculiar Northwest Division.
Vancouver Canucks (40-1) - See above.
Colorado Avalanche (30-1) - See above.
Teams Looking to Next Season (The One Some 380 Days Away)
LA Kings (uhh...)
Columbus Blue Jackets - See above.
Nashville Predators - See above.
St Louis Blues - See above.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Hockey Night in Canada Radio Back on Sirius
It's getting close... I can both feel the season in the air and listen to that feeling on Sirius Satellite Radio. So very cool...
From www.sirius.com:
Hockey Night in Canada Radio On Hiatus until Sept. 29, 2008After a very successful first season, CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius is taking a short summer break.The show will return on September 29th with all the hockey voices you love - host Jeff Marek, and his special guests Ron MacLean, Kelly Hrudey, Cassie Campbell, Craig Simpson, Scott Morrison, and of course, Don Cherry. CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Radio will bring you all the news from NHL training camps and explore all the intrigue of the pre-season, as we gear up for the 08-09 quest for the Stanley Cup. You'll hear more superb interviews with players, coaches, GMs, reporters, and anyone else making news in the world of hockey. That's CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Radio, every weekday from 4-7pm Eastern, on Sirius 122 & 97, beginning September 29th!
From www.sirius.com:
Hockey Night in Canada Radio On Hiatus until Sept. 29, 2008After a very successful first season, CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius is taking a short summer break.The show will return on September 29th with all the hockey voices you love - host Jeff Marek, and his special guests Ron MacLean, Kelly Hrudey, Cassie Campbell, Craig Simpson, Scott Morrison, and of course, Don Cherry. CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Radio will bring you all the news from NHL training camps and explore all the intrigue of the pre-season, as we gear up for the 08-09 quest for the Stanley Cup. You'll hear more superb interviews with players, coaches, GMs, reporters, and anyone else making news in the world of hockey. That's CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Radio, every weekday from 4-7pm Eastern, on Sirius 122 & 97, beginning September 29th!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Departure from Hockey: Nebraska Football Trip
Straying very far from blog general topic, this post is about my trip to Lincoln, NE to watch some Hokie (Virginia Tech)-Husker college football.
Granted, I haven't made the trip to an enormous number of college football destinations, but this may have been my favorite. Let's take a look at them (in no particular order)...
University of Oregon - Having gone to grad school in Eugene and being a Duck fan, I'm extremely biased, but I'd say it's an excellent venue and city to visit for college football simply because it's so incredibly loud there. Additionally, it's a very cool stadium in an incredibly picturesque setting.
UCLA - It gets credit as a place to visit simply due to the 100,000+ the Rose Bowl (stadium, not the game) in Pasadena holds, but beyond that... it's just ok (not that much of a college atmosphere).
Pittsburgh - My least favorite college location visited. It's no fault of the Pitt Panthers, but it's just not the same experience going to see a college game in a pro stadium (and pro town for that matter). I wouldn't recommend it.
Virginia Tech - Another excellent place to go see a game. Huge stadium with a very impassioned and knowledgeable fan base. Only drawback is if the town of Blacksburg isn't in the middle of nowhere, it can at least see it from there. Probably the best travel route to take is to fly into DC and play tourist for a few days and then drive the 4 1/2 hours into town.
Fresno State - Like one of those wine descriptions you sometimes come across... "Surprisingly vibrant with ...". I certainly didn't expect a lot from the trip since you know... its Fresno, but the stadium is nice and packed full of fans that are way into their team, and were not unfriendly to the opposition fans. If in driving distance, I'd recommend a visit.
Texas A&M - Very very good. College Station is one of those quintessential college towns and it features a gynormous on-campus stadium filled with dedicated fans who cheer in unison (I don't just mean everyone cheers when the Aggies do something good, I mean large portions of the stadium do the same group cheers and songs year after year. The best part of a trip to College Station, though, is the fans... some of the nicest people you could hope to meet.
And, now...
University of Nebraska at Lincoln - We arrived into town on a Friday night, went out for food and a few drinks, and then rested up for gameday... and what a gameday it was. We had previously been told about Sidetracks as THE bar to visit and the need to arrive early. So... bright-eyed and bushy-tailed we rolled in at around 11:45AM and spent the next 5 or so hours cavorting with an amazingly friendly group of Nebraska fans who kept (A) asking if we were having fun, (B) entertaining us songs about Husker football and (C) plying us with free beer.
Granted, I haven't made the trip to an enormous number of college football destinations, but this may have been my favorite. Let's take a look at them (in no particular order)...
University of Oregon - Having gone to grad school in Eugene and being a Duck fan, I'm extremely biased, but I'd say it's an excellent venue and city to visit for college football simply because it's so incredibly loud there. Additionally, it's a very cool stadium in an incredibly picturesque setting.
UCLA - It gets credit as a place to visit simply due to the 100,000+ the Rose Bowl (stadium, not the game) in Pasadena holds, but beyond that... it's just ok (not that much of a college atmosphere).
Pittsburgh - My least favorite college location visited. It's no fault of the Pitt Panthers, but it's just not the same experience going to see a college game in a pro stadium (and pro town for that matter). I wouldn't recommend it.
Virginia Tech - Another excellent place to go see a game. Huge stadium with a very impassioned and knowledgeable fan base. Only drawback is if the town of Blacksburg isn't in the middle of nowhere, it can at least see it from there. Probably the best travel route to take is to fly into DC and play tourist for a few days and then drive the 4 1/2 hours into town.
Fresno State - Like one of those wine descriptions you sometimes come across... "Surprisingly vibrant with ...". I certainly didn't expect a lot from the trip since you know... its Fresno, but the stadium is nice and packed full of fans that are way into their team, and were not unfriendly to the opposition fans. If in driving distance, I'd recommend a visit.
Texas A&M - Very very good. College Station is one of those quintessential college towns and it features a gynormous on-campus stadium filled with dedicated fans who cheer in unison (I don't just mean everyone cheers when the Aggies do something good, I mean large portions of the stadium do the same group cheers and songs year after year. The best part of a trip to College Station, though, is the fans... some of the nicest people you could hope to meet.
And, now...
University of Nebraska at Lincoln - We arrived into town on a Friday night, went out for food and a few drinks, and then rested up for gameday... and what a gameday it was. We had previously been told about Sidetracks as THE bar to visit and the need to arrive early. So... bright-eyed and bushy-tailed we rolled in at around 11:45AM and spent the next 5 or so hours cavorting with an amazingly friendly group of Nebraska fans who kept (A) asking if we were having fun, (B) entertaining us songs about Husker football and (C) plying us with free beer.
At this point, we had a few hours left until game time so we headed off in search of that mythical and magnificent creature, the tailgate. It was as if the Nebraska fans metaphorically said to us "rolling into our parking lot with no supplies of your own, no problem! Here's a beer". Suffice to say, we did not lack for good food, good drink or good conversation with some very good people.
From there, we went to the stadium and while it would be next to impossible to measure up to the fans outside the stadium, the venue itself came close with seats for some 85-odd thousand Big Red supporters.
Just a great place to see a game and the fans were so nice, it's almost reason enough to visit Blacksberg for the game next year to return the favor.
Monday, September 22, 2008
2008-2009 NHL Season: Sharks Training Camp
Training Camp has now been open for 4 days and it's never too early to make some bold predictions... you know, if you make enough of them, one's bound to come true.
For the time being though, I'm simply offer up a description of things of note from two of the three Sharks Training Camp open to the public scrimmages...
1. Bad: Torrey Mitchell breaking his leg. With half the players in camp being guys that won't make the roster, why couldn't it have been one of them? Well, I suppose you never want to wish harm on anyone and it wasn't one of the expected big guns. Time frame for Mitchell's expected return is mid-November.
2. Good: Patrick Marleau certainly showed some blazing speed. Adding to that, he also drives what has to be a blazing fast car.
3. Good: Jeff Friesen looked very solid out there (with an extremely nice assist in the Monday scrimmage.
4. Good: New style of play. Prior to hitting the ice for Camp, new coach (formerly of the Stanley Cup holding Detroit Red Wings) Todd McLellan preached the virtues of (A) getting the puck to the net and crashing it hard and (B) in a related story... having the D firing from the blueline.
5. Interesting: New star defenseman Dan Boyle is short (5-11 very generously) and other new star (albeit older) defenseman Rob Blake is tall (6-4).
6. Fear Inspiring: Alexei Semenov and Kyle McLaren were both on the ice. Very up in the air what their roles could be, though (which is much better than if it was known they'll both be on the team and play major minutes).
7. Funny: No rookie scuffles to witness, but several cases of veteran players (Ryane Clowe and Jeremy Roenick as examples) taking exception to rookie feistiness and subsequently dumping them on the ice... with no subsequent rookie aggression.
All this said... very glad hockey is back.
For the time being though, I'm simply offer up a description of things of note from two of the three Sharks Training Camp open to the public scrimmages...
1. Bad: Torrey Mitchell breaking his leg. With half the players in camp being guys that won't make the roster, why couldn't it have been one of them? Well, I suppose you never want to wish harm on anyone and it wasn't one of the expected big guns. Time frame for Mitchell's expected return is mid-November.
2. Good: Patrick Marleau certainly showed some blazing speed. Adding to that, he also drives what has to be a blazing fast car.
3. Good: Jeff Friesen looked very solid out there (with an extremely nice assist in the Monday scrimmage.
4. Good: New style of play. Prior to hitting the ice for Camp, new coach (formerly of the Stanley Cup holding Detroit Red Wings) Todd McLellan preached the virtues of (A) getting the puck to the net and crashing it hard and (B) in a related story... having the D firing from the blueline.
5. Interesting: New star defenseman Dan Boyle is short (5-11 very generously) and other new star (albeit older) defenseman Rob Blake is tall (6-4).
6. Fear Inspiring: Alexei Semenov and Kyle McLaren were both on the ice. Very up in the air what their roles could be, though (which is much better than if it was known they'll both be on the team and play major minutes).
7. Funny: No rookie scuffles to witness, but several cases of veteran players (Ryane Clowe and Jeremy Roenick as examples) taking exception to rookie feistiness and subsequently dumping them on the ice... with no subsequent rookie aggression.
All this said... very glad hockey is back.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Nice Career Path
In the Feb 2007 issue of Esquire, Chris Jones (my favorite current writer) writes "Into the Void", a profile of the Minnesota Wild Director of Hockey Operations, Chris Snow, who moved to that post at age 25 after serving as the Red Sox beat writer for the Boston Globe.
Yep, from sportswriter to NHL executive at 25... pretty solid career transition.
Yep, from sportswriter to NHL executive at 25... pretty solid career transition.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Busy Day in San Jose
I'm having a difficult time deciding exactly how I feel about the moves made by the San Jose Sharks yesterday where first they acquired Dan Boyle from Tampa Bay and then traded Craig Rivet to Buffalo.
As writing about something often helps me gain clarity in my thinking (which may still not agree with that of others), let's take a look here at things to see if any conclusions can be drawn.
Sharks offseason... as the NHL world turns:
1. San Jose exited a disappointing 2008 playoff season knowing that their 2009 playoff campaign would likely require the services of a puck-moving defensemen very similar in ilk to Brian Campbell... an excellent player, but one who the Sharks had in the playoffs and wasn't enough to win. This doesn't put the blame of the postseason on Campbell, but merely points out that he wasn't a magic elixir.
2. Free agency started July 1 and the madness ensued. As Mike Chen details in his blog, the $s being thrown at marginal players (Jeff Finger to Toronto) was nutty, and the $ going to the good ones (Brian Campbell to Chicago) was even more off the deep end. The Sharks sat out the first day or two, and then made their first move with a one-year, $5M agreement with defenseman Rob Blake.
3. Yesterday rolled around and things really started to happen. First, the aforementioned Dan Boyle came to San Jose along with fellow blueliner Brad Lukowich in exchange for Matt Carle, former first round pick Ty Wishart and draft picks. Whilst I was happy to get Boyle based on his reputation as that much-desired puck moving defenseman, I was chagrined about both the 6 year, $40M contract Boyle comes with and the inclusion of Wishart in the package. While I think he could have cut the Sharks a bit more slack, Scott Burside of http://www.espn.com/ details the Sharks letting go of young assets in attempts to win now.
4. Thinking that the next move would be a trade for draft picks, and hoping it would be Kyle McLaren, but wondering about Milan Michalek, the Sharks then proved my guess correct with a trade of Rivet to Buffalo for two picks.
So... all is said and done, Rivet and Carle are gone and replaced by Boyle and Lukowich. Additionally, a future as well as former first round pick are gone and replaced by two second rounders.
The current NHL player switch is definitely a good one for the Sharks and in reality, the potential NHL player switch may not be a bad one. When you consider that the Sabres second round selection may not be that far off from where the Sharks would draft in the first round (hopefully), things become more palatible.
Additionally, I wouldn't be surprised to see another salary dump/draft pick acquisition with either McLaren, Michalek or even Christian Erhoff involved.
Either way, the Sharks are a better team now than they were two days ago and I've got confidence in GM Doug Wilson that he'll continue the current path of looking to win now, but will also work to keep the pipeline of draft picks and young players flowing in the future.
There... I've decided, I like the moves. So, there's that!
As writing about something often helps me gain clarity in my thinking (which may still not agree with that of others), let's take a look here at things to see if any conclusions can be drawn.
Sharks offseason... as the NHL world turns:
1. San Jose exited a disappointing 2008 playoff season knowing that their 2009 playoff campaign would likely require the services of a puck-moving defensemen very similar in ilk to Brian Campbell... an excellent player, but one who the Sharks had in the playoffs and wasn't enough to win. This doesn't put the blame of the postseason on Campbell, but merely points out that he wasn't a magic elixir.
2. Free agency started July 1 and the madness ensued. As Mike Chen details in his blog, the $s being thrown at marginal players (Jeff Finger to Toronto) was nutty, and the $ going to the good ones (Brian Campbell to Chicago) was even more off the deep end. The Sharks sat out the first day or two, and then made their first move with a one-year, $5M agreement with defenseman Rob Blake.
3. Yesterday rolled around and things really started to happen. First, the aforementioned Dan Boyle came to San Jose along with fellow blueliner Brad Lukowich in exchange for Matt Carle, former first round pick Ty Wishart and draft picks. Whilst I was happy to get Boyle based on his reputation as that much-desired puck moving defenseman, I was chagrined about both the 6 year, $40M contract Boyle comes with and the inclusion of Wishart in the package. While I think he could have cut the Sharks a bit more slack, Scott Burside of http://www.espn.com/ details the Sharks letting go of young assets in attempts to win now.
4. Thinking that the next move would be a trade for draft picks, and hoping it would be Kyle McLaren, but wondering about Milan Michalek, the Sharks then proved my guess correct with a trade of Rivet to Buffalo for two picks.
So... all is said and done, Rivet and Carle are gone and replaced by Boyle and Lukowich. Additionally, a future as well as former first round pick are gone and replaced by two second rounders.
The current NHL player switch is definitely a good one for the Sharks and in reality, the potential NHL player switch may not be a bad one. When you consider that the Sabres second round selection may not be that far off from where the Sharks would draft in the first round (hopefully), things become more palatible.
Additionally, I wouldn't be surprised to see another salary dump/draft pick acquisition with either McLaren, Michalek or even Christian Erhoff involved.
Either way, the Sharks are a better team now than they were two days ago and I've got confidence in GM Doug Wilson that he'll continue the current path of looking to win now, but will also work to keep the pipeline of draft picks and young players flowing in the future.
There... I've decided, I like the moves. So, there's that!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Sharks Trade Sharks Trade
ESPN is reporting Dan Boyle is coming to the Sharks in exchange for Matt Carle and a 1st round pick... http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3473536
Thursday, July 3, 2008
2008 NHL Free Agency: 3 Days In... Western Conference
Goodness, gracious, sakes alive there's a lot of money being thrown around out there by some extremely "optimistic" General Managers. Let's think for a second about what exactly they're being optimistic about.
Is it that players will go from decent defensemen who still get scratched in half of their playoff games (see: Fingers, Jeff in Colorado) to brilliant $3.5M/year for four years investments for desperate teams (see: Maple Leafs, Toronto)? Perhaps it's the same GMs assuming that the NHL will suddenly overtake High School Musical in popularity causing the salary cap to continue rising... and making $50+M guaranteed commitments (Brian Campbell in Chicago) make sense. Yikes, probably a bit of both... scary stuff.
Let's take a look for a second at what has transpired starting in the Western Conference. First glance will be fairly superficial in nature and then perhaps we'll revisit things in the future to look at the overall team salary expenditures (probably more specifically to look at the Sharks numbers).
Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: They wanted Brian Campbell, they got Rob Blake. That's a pretty good way to describe things thus far. The Sharks can't be faulted for not throwing the vault at Campbell like the Blackhawks did, but it would have been nice to see them pick up one of the lesser, but still valuable free agent defensemen. That said, given the money that people like the aforementioned Jeff Fingers got (basically the same as the much more proven Craig Rivet was given a year ago by the Sharks), maybe it's good they stayed out of the fray. Adding Blake means that they're probably looking at a D rotation with the following skaters: Blake, Rivet, Christian Ehrhoff, Matt Carle, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Kyle McLaren & Douglas Murray. Not too bad, but would be nice to see an upgrade in McLaren's roster spot.
Offseason Grade - Incomplete/C
Anaheim Ducks: Not much doing... they resigned Corey Perry, but their big news was team captain Scott Niedermayer decided to come back for a full season. This will certainly help the Ducks, but a lot of uncertainty has come up with their owner currently barred from doing anything with the team due to SEC allegations of wrongdoing.
Offseason Grade - uhhh... C?
Dallas Stars: Their biggest offseason move was actually a trade deadline move last year when they brought in Brad Richards and the several remaining years on his contract. This was a transaction that paid off in the playoffs and should continue to do so in the future. Additionally, Dallas went out and signed free agent Sean Avery. Yep... Sean freakin' Avery. I'm not really sure how much Avery will add to Dallas, but imagine he'll be a headache on the team and cost them $16M over 4 years to boot.
Offseason Grade - B counting Richards/D with Richards a no-count
Phoenix Coyotes: Good amount of activity. Their big splash was the trade of solid young defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton for Florida Panther offensive standout Olli Jokinen. This will both greatly improve the offense (leaving holes on D, though) and add some much needed buzz to the team. However, the 'Yotes are still building and will likely only be challenging for one of the final playoff spots in the extremely competitive Western Conference.
OffSeason Grade - B-
LA Kings: Building for the future... through both the draft and trades, they're assembling quite a few solid young pieces. Question will be who the heck will lead this team, both behind the bench and in terms of any veteran leadership?
Offseason Grade - B
Central Division
Detroit Red Wings: One sentence comes to mind... the rich get richer. The Wings come off a "clearly the best team" Stanley Cup season and then add the best free agent forward in Marian Hossa. Augmenting this, they brought back trade-deadline pickup Brad Stuart and brought solid backup goalie Ty Conklin into the fold. Oh yeah... let's also make note of the fact that they got Stuart at a good value compared to some of the other D contracts handed out and kept things sane with Hossa in that it's only a one-year deal, and they'll need that money in the future to sign the even more valuable Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.
Offseason Grade - A+
Chicago Blackhawks: Yowzers! They started free agency with some exciting young players in Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith and have since added on Campbell and Cristobal Huet. Excellent players all, but it will be interesting to see how their financial picture looks going forward. Reason being is Duncan and the Patricks are going to have to get paid eventually and when those contracts do come up for discussion, the Hawks might not have enough left under the cap if it doesn't keep rising. Well, congratulations... you guys got Brian Campbell, now let's see if you're happy to have him for the life of the deal (and I bet you had to include a no-trade clause).
Offseason Grade: B+... for now
Columbus Blue Jackets: Who cares? Well, I'm sure people in Columbus do, but I just don't expect much of interest to come from this team anytime soon.
Offseason Grade - Irrelevant
Nashville Predators / St Louis Blues: Uhhh... see Blue Jackets comments above.
Northwest Division
Edmonton Oilers: New owner, new money... some new things goin' down. The Oilers have been extremely active in the trade market and have brought in some talent in Lubomir Visnovsky and Erik Cole.
Offseason Grade - B
Colorado Avalanche: Lost their #1 goalie in Jose Theodore and added... Darcy Tucker. Oh yeah, Joe Sakic "may" come back and Peter Forsberg... well, no idea what he'll do. Basically not sure what's going on with this team.
Offseason Grade - D-
Calgary Flames: Not much happening. They didn't have a tremendous amount of talent last season and have now basically swapped out Alex Tanguay for Michael Cammalleri. Zippidee-do dah!
Offseason Grade - D
Minnesota Wild / Vancouver Canucks: Both in danger of slipping off the map for a while. Strange division this Northwest.
Is it that players will go from decent defensemen who still get scratched in half of their playoff games (see: Fingers, Jeff in Colorado) to brilliant $3.5M/year for four years investments for desperate teams (see: Maple Leafs, Toronto)? Perhaps it's the same GMs assuming that the NHL will suddenly overtake High School Musical in popularity causing the salary cap to continue rising... and making $50+M guaranteed commitments (Brian Campbell in Chicago) make sense. Yikes, probably a bit of both... scary stuff.
Let's take a look for a second at what has transpired starting in the Western Conference. First glance will be fairly superficial in nature and then perhaps we'll revisit things in the future to look at the overall team salary expenditures (probably more specifically to look at the Sharks numbers).
Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: They wanted Brian Campbell, they got Rob Blake. That's a pretty good way to describe things thus far. The Sharks can't be faulted for not throwing the vault at Campbell like the Blackhawks did, but it would have been nice to see them pick up one of the lesser, but still valuable free agent defensemen. That said, given the money that people like the aforementioned Jeff Fingers got (basically the same as the much more proven Craig Rivet was given a year ago by the Sharks), maybe it's good they stayed out of the fray. Adding Blake means that they're probably looking at a D rotation with the following skaters: Blake, Rivet, Christian Ehrhoff, Matt Carle, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Kyle McLaren & Douglas Murray. Not too bad, but would be nice to see an upgrade in McLaren's roster spot.
Offseason Grade - Incomplete/C
Anaheim Ducks: Not much doing... they resigned Corey Perry, but their big news was team captain Scott Niedermayer decided to come back for a full season. This will certainly help the Ducks, but a lot of uncertainty has come up with their owner currently barred from doing anything with the team due to SEC allegations of wrongdoing.
Offseason Grade - uhhh... C?
Dallas Stars: Their biggest offseason move was actually a trade deadline move last year when they brought in Brad Richards and the several remaining years on his contract. This was a transaction that paid off in the playoffs and should continue to do so in the future. Additionally, Dallas went out and signed free agent Sean Avery. Yep... Sean freakin' Avery. I'm not really sure how much Avery will add to Dallas, but imagine he'll be a headache on the team and cost them $16M over 4 years to boot.
Offseason Grade - B counting Richards/D with Richards a no-count
Phoenix Coyotes: Good amount of activity. Their big splash was the trade of solid young defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton for Florida Panther offensive standout Olli Jokinen. This will both greatly improve the offense (leaving holes on D, though) and add some much needed buzz to the team. However, the 'Yotes are still building and will likely only be challenging for one of the final playoff spots in the extremely competitive Western Conference.
OffSeason Grade - B-
LA Kings: Building for the future... through both the draft and trades, they're assembling quite a few solid young pieces. Question will be who the heck will lead this team, both behind the bench and in terms of any veteran leadership?
Offseason Grade - B
Central Division
Detroit Red Wings: One sentence comes to mind... the rich get richer. The Wings come off a "clearly the best team" Stanley Cup season and then add the best free agent forward in Marian Hossa. Augmenting this, they brought back trade-deadline pickup Brad Stuart and brought solid backup goalie Ty Conklin into the fold. Oh yeah... let's also make note of the fact that they got Stuart at a good value compared to some of the other D contracts handed out and kept things sane with Hossa in that it's only a one-year deal, and they'll need that money in the future to sign the even more valuable Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.
Offseason Grade - A+
Chicago Blackhawks: Yowzers! They started free agency with some exciting young players in Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith and have since added on Campbell and Cristobal Huet. Excellent players all, but it will be interesting to see how their financial picture looks going forward. Reason being is Duncan and the Patricks are going to have to get paid eventually and when those contracts do come up for discussion, the Hawks might not have enough left under the cap if it doesn't keep rising. Well, congratulations... you guys got Brian Campbell, now let's see if you're happy to have him for the life of the deal (and I bet you had to include a no-trade clause).
Offseason Grade: B+... for now
Columbus Blue Jackets: Who cares? Well, I'm sure people in Columbus do, but I just don't expect much of interest to come from this team anytime soon.
Offseason Grade - Irrelevant
Nashville Predators / St Louis Blues: Uhhh... see Blue Jackets comments above.
Northwest Division
Edmonton Oilers: New owner, new money... some new things goin' down. The Oilers have been extremely active in the trade market and have brought in some talent in Lubomir Visnovsky and Erik Cole.
Offseason Grade - B
Colorado Avalanche: Lost their #1 goalie in Jose Theodore and added... Darcy Tucker. Oh yeah, Joe Sakic "may" come back and Peter Forsberg... well, no idea what he'll do. Basically not sure what's going on with this team.
Offseason Grade - D-
Calgary Flames: Not much happening. They didn't have a tremendous amount of talent last season and have now basically swapped out Alex Tanguay for Michael Cammalleri. Zippidee-do dah!
Offseason Grade - D
Minnesota Wild / Vancouver Canucks: Both in danger of slipping off the map for a while. Strange division this Northwest.
Monday, June 30, 2008
One Day Till Free Agency
One day from NHL free agency and things are starting to sort themselves out a bit. Fascinating news from Tampa where former Steel City guy Ryan Malone signed a 7 year $31.5M deal with the Bolts.
What isn't terribly interesting is Malone leaving Pittsburgh, but rather him signing with Tampa a day prior to the start of free agency. One has to assume that the Lightning had at least a pretty good idea they would be able to sign him when they made a deal for exclusive negotiating rights. If Malone hadn't somehow indicated a willingness to sign with Tampa, why would they give up a draft pick in exchange for exclusive pre-July 1 negotiating rights? Shocking to think that in today's seamlessly run (note the sarcasm) NHL, such outside the rules shenanigans would take place.
Another interesting move announced today was the LA Kings trading solid defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky for not quite as flashy, but quite a bit younger Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene of the Oilers. The Kings may not (well, probably won't) be a playoff team next season, but they are assembling quite a collection of young talent for the future.
So... a few things have already happened and a few more are to come. The marquee free agents are Mats Sundin of the Leafs and Brian Campbell of the Sharks. At this point, both players appear to be on the move with the Leafs gently nudging Sundin out the door (probably the right strategy for a franchise that needs to go young, but shouldn't slap their loyal superstar by not "trying" to sign him).
Campbell is a different case in that he's talented, he's young and the Sharks woulve love to keep him. However, publically there has been strange communication out of Camp Campbell with statements to the effect of "might have to stay closer to home/Eastern Canada." My guess would be that this means Campbell has already told the Sharks he's not going to sign with them and has asked that this remain quiet while he figures out where he does want to go. While it's true that Campbell would be a very valuable piece of the puzzle in San Jose, not signing him is no disaster in that it does free up probably $7-8M a year over five or so years. This is the type of money that can be used elsewhere... not necessarily for a Brian Campbell (not many of those out there), but for a different D-man, perhaps a Wade Redden, Ron Hainsey, Mark Streit or Brooks Orpik.
On a different note, here's to hoping that one hypothetical player move doesn't happen... Patrick Marleau out of San Jose. Marleau's no-trade clause kicks in July 1, but he proved his toughness in the playoffs last year and at $6M/season for the next two years, isn't due crazy $ for a center (much more valuable than a comparably talented wing) of his ilk. If the Sharks got sufficient value for a Milan Michalek, I'd be fine with a move there, but I just don't see the return on Marleau being high enough to let him go.
What isn't terribly interesting is Malone leaving Pittsburgh, but rather him signing with Tampa a day prior to the start of free agency. One has to assume that the Lightning had at least a pretty good idea they would be able to sign him when they made a deal for exclusive negotiating rights. If Malone hadn't somehow indicated a willingness to sign with Tampa, why would they give up a draft pick in exchange for exclusive pre-July 1 negotiating rights? Shocking to think that in today's seamlessly run (note the sarcasm) NHL, such outside the rules shenanigans would take place.
Another interesting move announced today was the LA Kings trading solid defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky for not quite as flashy, but quite a bit younger Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene of the Oilers. The Kings may not (well, probably won't) be a playoff team next season, but they are assembling quite a collection of young talent for the future.
So... a few things have already happened and a few more are to come. The marquee free agents are Mats Sundin of the Leafs and Brian Campbell of the Sharks. At this point, both players appear to be on the move with the Leafs gently nudging Sundin out the door (probably the right strategy for a franchise that needs to go young, but shouldn't slap their loyal superstar by not "trying" to sign him).
Campbell is a different case in that he's talented, he's young and the Sharks woulve love to keep him. However, publically there has been strange communication out of Camp Campbell with statements to the effect of "might have to stay closer to home/Eastern Canada." My guess would be that this means Campbell has already told the Sharks he's not going to sign with them and has asked that this remain quiet while he figures out where he does want to go. While it's true that Campbell would be a very valuable piece of the puzzle in San Jose, not signing him is no disaster in that it does free up probably $7-8M a year over five or so years. This is the type of money that can be used elsewhere... not necessarily for a Brian Campbell (not many of those out there), but for a different D-man, perhaps a Wade Redden, Ron Hainsey, Mark Streit or Brooks Orpik.
On a different note, here's to hoping that one hypothetical player move doesn't happen... Patrick Marleau out of San Jose. Marleau's no-trade clause kicks in July 1, but he proved his toughness in the playoffs last year and at $6M/season for the next two years, isn't due crazy $ for a center (much more valuable than a comparably talented wing) of his ilk. If the Sharks got sufficient value for a Milan Michalek, I'd be fine with a move there, but I just don't see the return on Marleau being high enough to let him go.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Fan Post-mortem: Western Conference
Previously looked at was the perspective that fans of Eastern Conference teams "should" take when looking back on the 2007-2008 season played by their valiant (or sometimes not so valiant) warriors. Now... on to the Western Conference:
Detroit Red Wings - first place in the regular season, won the Stanley Cup. Yep... me thinks Red Wings fans should feel pretty good. Additionally, next year should bring good tidings as well. I don't see any way the Wings will suffer a steep post-Cup drop-off the likes of which befell Carolina and Tampa Bay. Messers Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom and Rafalski are simply too talented.
San Jose Sharks - second place in the regular season, eliminated in the 2nd round by Dallas. This is an easy one... fans (myself being one) should feel very disappointed, but also have hope for the future with the recent change in leadership (yes, Ron Wilson... the coach is supposed to lead the team). How the Sharks will perform come clutch time next playoffs is to be determined, but a talented roster (which the Sharks have) is always going to provide a good base.
Minnesota Wild - third place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by Colorado. Not really sure what Wild fans should think. They certainly have a serviceable team, but it's not certain the talent level is on par with the better Western Conference teams. That said, probably shouldn't be too happy with a 1st round elimination after winning the division.
Anaheim Ducks - fourth place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by Dallas. True, they weren't as good of a team as the one that won the Stanley Cup a year ago, but a 1st round defeat (at the hands of a division rival no less) should leave a sour taste in the mouth for Ducks fans. Additionally, next season's Ducks have a large amount of uncertainly in the names of Selanne, Teemu and Niedermayer, Scott.
Dallas Stars - fifth place in the regular season, eliminated in the 3rd round by Detroit. Stars fans should be beside themselves with joy (well, maybe that's a bit overstated, but they should be happy) at the play of their team. A run all the way to the conference finals provided the excitement and now the idea of a full season with Brad Richards on the same team as budding superstar Brenden Morrow should provide the anticipation.
Colorado Avalanche - sixth place in the regular season, eliminated in the 2nd round by Detroit. A peculiar season for the Avs. They struggled mightily at times in the regular season and then loaded for bear with the trade deadline additions of Adam Foote and Peter Forsberg. Injury troubles then followed them through the playoffs where they did manage to win a series before running into the Red Wings juggernaut. Finally, the Avs fired their coach after all this and replaced him with a previously fired coach. This was a strange team which had a strange season.
Calgary Flames - seventh place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by San Jose. Flames faithful should view this as a "decent" season. They got superstar-level play from Captain Jarome Iginla, pretty good play from sometimes superstar Mikka Kiprusoff and not a lot else. All in all, the Flames probably got as far as they could with the roster, but fans probably shouldn't expect much else unless personnel changes are made.
Nashville Predators - either place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by Detroit. Fans in hockey-hotbed (not really) Nashville should be delirious over the play of their team. After having the prior year's roster gutted, the remaining players stepped up and led the team not only to the playoffs, but to their eventual status as "team that gave the Red Wings the most trouble."
So... of the 8 playoff teams in the East, fans of 6 should feel good about the season gone by. Comparatively, only 3 of the Western Conference teams should feel that good. It could be that the Western Conference has better teams, and resulting higher expectations, but regardless of the cause, the result is interesting.
Remaining out of the playoffs Western Conference standings:
9. Edmonton
10. Chicago
11. Vancouver
12. Phoenix
13. Columbus
14. St Louis
15. Los Angeles
Of these teams, one story does jump out... Blackhawks fans should be thrilled with their 10th place conference finish and knowledge that they are very much on the right track to becoming a contending team again.
Detroit Red Wings - first place in the regular season, won the Stanley Cup. Yep... me thinks Red Wings fans should feel pretty good. Additionally, next year should bring good tidings as well. I don't see any way the Wings will suffer a steep post-Cup drop-off the likes of which befell Carolina and Tampa Bay. Messers Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom and Rafalski are simply too talented.
San Jose Sharks - second place in the regular season, eliminated in the 2nd round by Dallas. This is an easy one... fans (myself being one) should feel very disappointed, but also have hope for the future with the recent change in leadership (yes, Ron Wilson... the coach is supposed to lead the team). How the Sharks will perform come clutch time next playoffs is to be determined, but a talented roster (which the Sharks have) is always going to provide a good base.
Minnesota Wild - third place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by Colorado. Not really sure what Wild fans should think. They certainly have a serviceable team, but it's not certain the talent level is on par with the better Western Conference teams. That said, probably shouldn't be too happy with a 1st round elimination after winning the division.
Anaheim Ducks - fourth place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by Dallas. True, they weren't as good of a team as the one that won the Stanley Cup a year ago, but a 1st round defeat (at the hands of a division rival no less) should leave a sour taste in the mouth for Ducks fans. Additionally, next season's Ducks have a large amount of uncertainly in the names of Selanne, Teemu and Niedermayer, Scott.
Dallas Stars - fifth place in the regular season, eliminated in the 3rd round by Detroit. Stars fans should be beside themselves with joy (well, maybe that's a bit overstated, but they should be happy) at the play of their team. A run all the way to the conference finals provided the excitement and now the idea of a full season with Brad Richards on the same team as budding superstar Brenden Morrow should provide the anticipation.
Colorado Avalanche - sixth place in the regular season, eliminated in the 2nd round by Detroit. A peculiar season for the Avs. They struggled mightily at times in the regular season and then loaded for bear with the trade deadline additions of Adam Foote and Peter Forsberg. Injury troubles then followed them through the playoffs where they did manage to win a series before running into the Red Wings juggernaut. Finally, the Avs fired their coach after all this and replaced him with a previously fired coach. This was a strange team which had a strange season.
Calgary Flames - seventh place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by San Jose. Flames faithful should view this as a "decent" season. They got superstar-level play from Captain Jarome Iginla, pretty good play from sometimes superstar Mikka Kiprusoff and not a lot else. All in all, the Flames probably got as far as they could with the roster, but fans probably shouldn't expect much else unless personnel changes are made.
Nashville Predators - either place in the regular season, eliminated in the 1st round by Detroit. Fans in hockey-hotbed (not really) Nashville should be delirious over the play of their team. After having the prior year's roster gutted, the remaining players stepped up and led the team not only to the playoffs, but to their eventual status as "team that gave the Red Wings the most trouble."
So... of the 8 playoff teams in the East, fans of 6 should feel good about the season gone by. Comparatively, only 3 of the Western Conference teams should feel that good. It could be that the Western Conference has better teams, and resulting higher expectations, but regardless of the cause, the result is interesting.
Remaining out of the playoffs Western Conference standings:
9. Edmonton
10. Chicago
11. Vancouver
12. Phoenix
13. Columbus
14. St Louis
15. Los Angeles
Of these teams, one story does jump out... Blackhawks fans should be thrilled with their 10th place conference finish and knowledge that they are very much on the right track to becoming a contending team again.
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