Ponds and Pucks

Time for my weekly look and the wonderful and wacky world of NHL standings.

Standings fun:

• Ottawa continues to own the east with nine wins. Detroit has the same in the west.
• At the other end of the spectrum, Atlanta has surged to win three games, tying them with follow bottom feeder Phoenix. And it only took Atlanta 11 games to do it!
• Every team in the Northeast Division is .500 or better, with only the Sabres sitting right on the .500 mark.
• Islanders, Lightning, Coyotes and Blues have all played only 9 games, while Anaheim leads the league at 13 games played.
• Washington and Florida are ahead of New Jersey and the NY Rangers. Who says parity is dead? There’s no such phenomenon in the west… everyone is well ahead of Phoenix and Nashville, surprising no one.

Elsewhere in the NHL:

• To most it’s just a Sunday night matchup between two struggling teams, but to the Ducks and the Oilers it’s another chapter in the feud between their respective GMs. Give this round to the Oilers. Of course, the focus was on Dustin Penner. His comments and attitude in the story are actually pretty classy. The bonus was that GM Brian Burke presented Penner with his Stanley Cup ring in the GM’s office after the game. Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall for that little scene?



• Bruins fans are a hardy folk, how else could they get through so many seasons of misery with barely a whimper? The latest in their string of misfortunes, the injury of Patrice Bergeron — one of the few bright lights in the Bruins organization — might be less serious than previously thought as Bergeron was released from the hospital Sunday. Tests showed no injury to Bergeron’s head and neck.

Plus a big congrats to the Boston Red Sox on their World Series win!

Dustin Penner, Brian Burke, Patrice Bergeron

Dave Keon top Toronto Maple Leaf of all time? Seems like a strange choice, but who am I to argue with the likes of Harry Neale, Frank Selke and Bill Watters?

Leafs fans will be curious about which player was ranked where (and likely debate it for the remainder of the season, since it’s not like the Leafs are going to be doing much worth talking about), but to me the most fascinating part of the article is that 102 year old sports writer Milt Dunnell was part of the voting panel.

102 years! Just imagine the hockey he’s seen.

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Old news, but thought I’d throw it out there: Rumor has it Mike Keenan is looking to swap Alex Tanguay for Alexei Kovalev. Putting aside the fact Keenan is the head coach and not the GM (Darryl Sutter must be thrilled to have this all over Sportsnet.ca), that just seems crazy. Granted, the jury is still out on Tanguay, but Kovalev? When Montreal fans jumped at the idea and Calgary fans stayed very quiet, that was enough to see who was getting the better player (or getting rid of the worst one).

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An aside…. Sutter used to keep the Flames rumor mill locked tight. There was rarely a leak or rumor from the Calgary team. As soon as Keenan joined, Sportsnet.ca suddenly had scoop after scoop and rumor after rumor. Now they’re even getting trade rumors, even though Keenan has nothing to do with trades (officially anyway). Wonder where they’re suddenly getting all this info from….?

Dave Keon, Harry Neale, Frank Selke, Bill Watters, Milt Dunnell, Mike Keenan, Alex Tanguay, Alexei Kovalev, Darryl Sutter

Just this morning I made a joke about first coach of the season being fired and pools and Bob Hartley. I shouldn’t have joked. Bob Hartley was fired by the Atlanta Thrashers today.

The Thrashers started the season 0-6-0, but one could argue this stems from last year’s playoffs when the Thrashers traded away valuable picks to boost up for their first ever playoff run, then went out in 4 games against the New York Rangers.

That left the Thrashers with their best talent gone, few high-round picks, and a disappointing playoff run. However that’s not entirely a coaching problem, that’s an organizational problem.

Hartley may have simply been there too long. Hartley was head coach since the 2002-2003 season. Only a handful of current coaches have lasted as long as or longer:

• Lindy Ruff (Buffalo’s head coach since the 1997-1998 season)
• Barry Trotz (Nashville’s head coach since the 1998-1999 season)
• Craig MacTavish (Edmonton’s head coach since the 2000-2001 season)
• Jacques Lemaire (Minnesota’s head coach since the 2000-2001 season)
• John Tortorella (Tampa’s coach since the 2000-2001 season)
• Ron Wilson (San Jose’s coach since the 2002-2003 season)
• Dave Tippett (Dallas’ head coach since the 2002-2003 season)

Yeah, my betting money would have been on Barry Trotz. I just don’t think anyone expected Atlanta to get off to such a brutal start, despite the fact that on paper they certainly didn’t look like a team building on their success.

So now the replacement debate begins. Assistant coach Brad McCrimmon ran the practice, is it time to give him his first NHL shot? The fact the coaching staff wasn’t completely cleaned out makes one think the Thrashers might be leaning that way.

And, just for more debate, does this just prove the Hartley haters right, that his success in Colorado was due to the talent on the team, and not the coaching?

Bob Hartley, Atlanta Thrashers, New York Rangers, Lindy Ruff, Barry Trotz, Craig MacTavish, Jacques Lemaire, John Tortorella, Ron Wilson, Dave Tippett, Brad McCrimmon

You know it’s a slow news day in the hockey world when many hockey news web sites are leading with tonight’s Toronto/Buffalo matchup (and some are more interested in talking about baseball). Or maybe it’s just me, already tired of Toronto and their goaltending troubles.

In any case, the Flyers’ decision to put Jesse Boulerice on waivers might spice things up. I have the feeling there will be few, if any, takers.

Since so many are looking at the Atlanta Thrashers and wondering when they might actually, you know, win a game or two (as the Flames breathe a sigh of relief and wipe their foreheads. Their wins against Dallas and Detroit took them from winless to .500 hockey), I took a surf over to some blogs for my favorite Eastern Conference division to see what the bloggers there had to say.

Southeast Shootout has a great look at which Thrashers players are actually shooting the puck, and while the players who are getting the shots may not surprise, the total lack of shots against the opposition is a little depressing.

Thrashers die-hard TheFalconcer waxes frustration in a discussion of Atlanta’s woes and breaks apart their most recent game against the New Jersey Devils. I love the “Naming Names” section. And TheFalconer nails the fact Ilya Kovalchuk is painfully underated thanks to the team’s lack of success. Not that it matters, but Vincent Lecavalier suffered the same fate in Tampa for many years.

It’s way too early in the season to panic, and there have been some (not many) playoff teams to slump in October before pulling their collective hockey shorts up for the rest of the season, but it’s tough. When you’re in the Southeast division, not playing well is certainly going to make life very difficult. You’ve got the surging Hurricanes, the always steady Lightning, the Capitals finding their feet, and….Florida. (sorry, couldn’t resist). Falling more than a few games behind now could prove very painful indeed.

Jesse Boulerice, Atlanta Thrashers, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vincent Lecavalier

The city of Philadelphia may be seeing the resurgance of the Broadstreet Bullies!

We’ll start with the obvious:

1. Jesse Boulerice cross-checks Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler

   The jury is still out on how many games Boulerice is going to get for this hit, but considering the trend started by teammate Steve Downie in the pre-season, I can’t imagine the NHL is going to be too lenient. This video also has an excellent collection of the sparring Boulerice and Kesler had been involved in prior to the hit.

2. Steve Downie hits Dean McAmmond

   Pre-season. What else is there to say? Downie got 20 games for this. Considering he left his feet, I’d say he’s lucky.

3. Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers set single game penalty minutes record

   Ok, I’m cheating a little here, but how can I not include the game/fight that set the NHL single game penalty minutes record? Bear in mind, this 7 minute YouTube video is only part 1 of 3 covering the mayhem that night.

4. Denis Gauthier’s late hit on Vincent Lecavalier

   Disclaimer: I love Denis Gauthier. I also love Vincent Lecavalier. But there is no love between these guys — and that goes back years. This isn’t a dirty hit as much as it’s a cheap shot, and a debatable one at that. One could argue Gauthier had Lecavalier lined up well before the puck went in and didn’t have time to stop. Either way, you’ve got to love any player who can score a pretty goal like that, then turn around and start pummeling the guy who hit him.

5. Ron Hextall

   
   

   Two for the price of one. There’s nothing else to say. The Chris Chelios attack was of course revenge for Chelios’s hit on Brian Propp earlier in the series (available on YouTube — but fairly gruesome).

Sadly, I was unable to include Dave Brown’s jaw-breaking cross check on Tomas Sandstrom. That hit netted Brown 15 games in November of 1987, still one of the longest suspensions in NHL history (though falling out of the Top 10 quickly).

For a fun list of Flyers’ misdeeds over the years, check out FlyersHistory.com. It’s been years since I’ve seen a suspension for “beating [another player] in the penalty box” (and 2 Flyers players were suspended for beating the same player!).

Broadstreet Bullies, Jesse Boulerice, Ryan Kesler, Steve Downie, Dean McAmmond, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Denis Gauthier, Vincent Lecavalier, Ron Hextall, Chris Chelios, Brian Propp, Dave Brown, Tomas Sandstrom

Alfredsson doesn’t care which Leafs’ goalie he scores on.

It was somewhat surprising to see Raycroft between the pipes when the puck dropped last night for the Senators/Leafs game. It was almost as surprising to see Toskala in net for the Leafs tonight in their second tilt against Ottawa.

What’s not surprising is that it didn’t seem to make one iota of difference.

I don’t blame the Leafs for not starting Toskala at home — the pressure there is ridiculous. I know players don’t go to Toronto to remain anonymous, but how much attention and pressure would Toskala be under if the Leafs hadn’t been forced to take the problem child Mark Bell as well?

If you’re the Leafs, who do you start in net next?

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I haven’t checked yet, but I believe the Steve Downie suspension expires right before the Flyers play Ottawa again. Excellent. If you’re keeping track, tonight’s game against Calgary is Game #1 of the suspension.

Philly looked good tonight against Calgary. It’s only one game, but I swear the countdown on Mike Keenan’s first eruption is already well underway. A tale of two teams: Flyer’s star player Daniel Briere steps up and scores a goal in the latter half of the 3rd period, bringing the team to a 3-2 lead. Calgary star Jarome Iginla responds by stepping up and taking a hooking penalty. It was a lousy call, but still….

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Up the highway, the Oilers eked out a strong win against the Sharks. Still processing that one… that and Nashville beating the crap out of Colorado. All this is telling me is that I’ll need to wait a few more weeks before buying SportsSelect tickets…

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Shutout count: Backstrom - 1, Mason - 1.

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Regular, less stream-of-consciousness content will return tomorrow. I promise. (Guilty confession: The NHL is my first love. Always has been. But after this weekend, part of me is still caught up in the NFL and ex-CFLer Jeff Garcia’s performance in Tampa).

New York Islanders

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Jon Sim (was with Atlanta), signed F Ruslan Fedotenko (was with Tampa), signed F Bill Guerin (was with San Jose and St. Louis), signed F Mike Comrie (was with Ottawa). Invited D Brian Berard to training camp.
Starting goalie: Rick DiPietro, though rookie backup Wade Dubielewicz saved the Isles’ arse late last season when DiPietro went down with an injury.
Summary of last year: Bringing their backup goalie, Garth Snow, in as GM. Signing Rick DiPietro to a 15 year contract. Hiring Ted Nolan to coach after years away from the NHL. Despite the departure of Mike Milbury (well from the GM role anyway), there were still plenty of reasons to make the Islanders the butt of the joke. They proved everyone wrong by improving by 14 points and sneaking their way past the Leafs into the final playoff spot in the East.
Prediction for this year: The players the Islanders lost in the off-season is an intimidating list: Jason Blake, Sean Hill, Viktor Kozlov, Tom Poti, Ryan Smyth, Alexei Yashin (just seeing if you’re paying attention), and Richard Zednik. They didn’t back down over the summer and signed a number of quality forwards to fill the gaps. Is it enough? And can the team survive a wholesale change of so many of its top scorers? Time will tell, but my money is on Ted Nolan to pull this one off.

New York Islanders, Jon Sim, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie, Brian Berard, Rick DiPietro, Wade Dubielewicz, Garth Snow, Ted Nolan, Mike Milbury, Jason Blake, Sean Hill, Viktor Kozlov, Tom Poti, Ryan Smyth, Alexei Yashin, Richard Zednik

Carolina Hurricanes

Notable moves and changes:Acquired C Matt Cullen from the Rangers for D Andrew Hutchinson and F Joe Barnes.
Starting goalie: Cam Ward
Summary of last year: The Hurricanes get to carry the unfavorable mark of a team that wins the Stanley Cup one year and doesn’t even make the playoffs the next. It’s tough not to feel bad for GM Jim Rutherford — how do you tinker with a team like that? Most of the standouts from the Hurricanes’ Cup win are still with the team, they’re just MIA. They need to be found fast for the Canes to have any chance at rebounding. Cam Ward, this means you.
Prediction for this year: Bringing Cullen back to the fold seems to be a acknowledgment of something lacking from this year’s group, but Rutherford must be banking on last year being an anomaly. Beyond Cullen, the biggest news out of Carolina in the off-season was the Staal brothers having a little too much to drink at a campground. Oh, those bad boys of the NHL.

Carolina Hurricanes, Matt Cullen, Andrew Hutchinson, Joe Barnes, Cam Ward, Jim Rutherford, Cam Ward

Florida Panthers

Notable moves and changes:Acquired G Thomas Vokoun from Nashville for picks. Signed F Richard Zednik (was with Washington and New York Islanders), and F Brett McLean (was with Colorado). Signed F Radek Dvorak (was with St. Louis).
Starting goalie: Thomas Vokoun
Summary of last year: No one expected much from Florida after the Roberto Luongo trade and Mike Keenan fallout, but they surprised with a steady, if not spectacular season, notching one more point in the standings than the year before.
Prediction for this year: Things appear to be falling into place for the Panthers — hopefully all will go as planned. Vokoun has to be the same goalie in Florida as he was in Nashville. He’s got a decent defence corps in front of him, lead by Jay Bouwmeester, Bryan Allen, Mike Van Ryn and as long as these guys keep getting better, goals against shouldn’t be a problem. Up front, their free agent signings join Olli Jokinen, Nathan Horton, and Stephen Weiss — all consistently great players. If these guys don’t show some sort of improvement, something is seriously wrong.

Florida Panthers, Thomas Vokoun, Richard Zednik, Brett McLean, Radek Dvorak, Thomas Vokoun, Roberto Luongo, Mike Keenan, Jay Bouwmeester, Bryan Allen, Mike Van Ryn, Olli Jokinen, Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss

St Louis Blues

Notable moves and changes:Resigned C Keith Tkachuk, after re-acquiring his rights from Atlanta (Blues had dealt Tkachuk to the Thrashers at the trade deadline). Signed F Paul Kariya (had been with Nashville). Acquired G Hannu Toivonen from Boston for Carl Soderberg.
Starting goalie: Manny Legace
Summary of last year: Baby steps. After an embarrassing 2005-2006 effort, there was little doubt last season was going to be spent rebuilding. This resulted in the addition of coach Andy Murray and a 24 point jump in the standings.
Prediction for this year: Landing Kariya was no small feat, and boosted this club’s fortunes considerably. With Doug Weight and Tkachuk on the roster, the Blues have some veteran talent (my personal opinion of Keith Tkachuk notwithstanding), albeit a little too veteran for some. Lee Stempniak is only going to get better. The defence corps is a little young, but loaded with talent in Eric Brewer, and up and comers like Barret Jackman and newcomer Erik Johnson — defense is far from the Blues’ biggest problem. The Blues will still have a tough time making the playoffs in the Western Conference, but they’ll be in the fight come April.

St Louis Blues, Keith Tkachuk, Paul Kariya, Hannu Toivonen, Carl Soderberg, Manny Legace, Andy Murray, Doug Weight, Lee Stempniak, Eric Brewer, Barret Jackman, Erik Johnson

Boston Bruins

Notable moves and changes:Traded F Shean Donovan to the Senators for F Peter Schaefer, acquired G Manny Fernandez from Minnesota. Fired head coach Dave Lewis and named Claude Julien head coach. Signed F Shawn Thornton (had been with Anaheim).
Starting goalie: Manny Fernandez
Summary of last year: In a word: disappointing. Hopes had been high for Bruins fans with the signings of Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara in the off-season. While Savard put up excellent numbers, even Chara seemed unable to help the Bruins defense, and the Bruins wound up 29th overall in goals against.
Prediction for this year: The defense hasn’t been addressed, but the goaltending sure has. With the addition of Fernandez, the Bruins have a steady netminder for the first time in years. If Savard can keep up his pace, if Schaefer steps up, and if the younger guys like Phil Kessel and Patrice Bergeron can keep improving, the team looks as good as it has since Joe Thornton was dealt. The defence though is a huge question mark. Can Chara and the rest of the defence step up?

Boston Bruins, Shean Donovan, Peter Schaefer, Manny Fernandez, Dave Lewis, Claude Julien, Shawn Thornton, Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara, Phil Kessel, Patrice Bergeron, Joe Thornton

Chicago Blackhawks

Notable moves and changes: Acquired F Sergei Samsonov from the Montreal Canadiens for D Jassen Cullimore and F Tony Salmelainen. Signed C Yanic Perreault (was with Phoenix and Toronto last season), acquired D Andrei Zyuzin in a trade with the Calgary Flames, and signed C Robert Lang (was with Detroit).
Starting goalie:Nikolai Khabibulin
Summary of last year:Few fans could argue with the appointment of Hawks legend Denis Savard as head coach, but it’s going to take a lot more than one coach to turn this ship around. The Hawks were 28th in the league in scoring, dead last on the power play and only Philadelphia had a worse home record than Chicago. Last season was dotted with the same inconsistencies, injury bugs and lackadaisical play that has kept the Hawks out of the playoffs for 8 of the past 9 years.
Prediction for this year: If this season’s Yanic Perreault is in fact, Yanic Perreault, long-suffering Hawks fans may finally have a free-agent signing to cheeer about. Samsonov and Lang add to the mix, but both have baggage from prior teams, and the Hawks have not historically fared well with project players. The bad news: Adrian Aucoin, Michal Handzus, Denis Arkhipov and Mikael Holmqvist are all gone in off-season deals. The good news: The future looks bright. Kids like Tuomo Ruutu and Brent Seabrook keep getting better, and two highly regarded prospects, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, are expected to have an excellent shot at roster spots this year. This may not be the Hawk’s comeback season, but the building blocks are there.

Chicago Blackhawks, Sergei Samsonov, Yanic Perreault, Andrei Zyuzin, Robert Lang, Nikolai Khabibulin, Denis Savard, Tuomo Ruutu, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews

Washington Capitals

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Viktor Kozlov (was with the New York Islanders), C Michael Nylander (was with the New York Rangers), and D Tom Poti (was also with the Islanders).
Starting goalie: Olaf Kolzig — this last time Kolzig played less than 50 games for the Caps was the 1996-1997 season when he shared duties with Jim Carey.
Summary of last year: Alexander Ovechkin. Does anything else need to be said? He makes Chris Clark look like a first liner. Wait, what?
Prediction for this year: In a division that suddenly has a lot of up and coming talent, will these moves be enough? The Caps’ 286 goals against was 28th in the league and other than the addition of Poti, nothing concrete was done to address defense. Kozlov and Nylander are nice additions — depending on which versions of those players actually show up.

Washington Capitals, Viktor Kozlov, New York Islanders, Michael Nylander, New York Rangers, Tom Poti, Olaf Kolzig, Alexander Ovechkin, Chris Clark

Los Angeles

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Kyle Calder (was with Philly and Detroit last season), C Michal Handzus (was with Chicago), F Ladislav Nagy (was with Phoenix), and D Tom Preissing (was with Ottawa). Signed D Brad Stuart (was with Calgary). Signed D Jon Klemm (was with Dallas).
Starting goalie: Dan Cloutier
Summary of last year: Quick, name 3 LA King players from the 2006-2007 season without including Rob Blake, Michael Cammalleri or Alexander Frolov. Some of the more astute might remember a young rookie named Ante Kopitar who had an impressive season. Some might even remember Mathieu Garon, or Sean Avery, but there’s truly not much else to mark the Kings’ 4th straight year without making the post-season dance.
Prediction for this year: The Kings are lucky to have Phoenix in their division — it’ll at least keep them out of the basement. The Kings are consistent in that they always seem to have decent (if not spectacular) teams on paper, then quietly finish in the bottom third of the conference. In the off-season the Kings have nicely upgraded their blueline, brought in some steady forwards (Nagy is a huge question mark) and hung onto the key players of their team (Cammalleri’s signing came down to arbitration) (though some would argue the departed Sean Avery was key). If Cloutier can hold them in, the Kings could make a strong case this year, but they’ve been deceptive before….

Los Angeles, Kyle Calder, Philly, Detroit, Michal Handzus, Ladislav Nagy, Tom Preissing, Brad Stuart, Jon Klemm, Dan Cloutier, LA King, Rob Blake, Michael Cammalleri, Alexander Frolov, Ante Kopitar, Mathieu Garon, Sean Avery

Phoenix Coyotes

Notable moves and changes: Signed G Alex Auld (had been with the Florida Panthers), acquired C Kevyn Adams from the Chicago Blackhawks for F Radim Vrbata, signed G David Aebischer (had been with the Montreal Canadiens).
Starting goalie: Likely Aebischer, barring a stunning performance by Auld.
Summary of last year: The Coyotes had the dubious honor of having the worst record in the league for the second half of the season (yes, even worse than the Flyers). The Coyotes haven’t seen a hint of the playoffs in 4 years.
Prediction for this year: Do you call for the head of your head coach if he’s part owner of the team? How about if he’s Wayne Gretzky? The woes of this team are not entirely Gretzky’s fault, but this team is in a death spiral and help does not appear to be on the way. Both goalies signed in the off-season have a lot to prove, and on most teams wouldn’t be considered starters. New additions Mike York and Kevyn Adams need to step up their games considerably to make a difference, the young guys like Bill Thomas and Tomas Surovy need to continue to grow and contribute while veterans like Shane Doan and Steven Reinprecht need to return to form. The Coyotes didn’t even address their defensive woes — top d-man Ed Jovanovski played only 54 games last season and Nick Boyton and Derek Morris did not step up to fill in the gap. Not only are the playoffs unlikely, the Coyotes will struggle to fight their way out of the basement of the Pacific Division.

Phoenix Coyotes, Alex Auld, Florida Panthers, Kevyn Adams, Chicago Blackhawks, Radim Vrbata, David Aebischer, Montreal Canadiens, Wayne Gretzky, Mike York, Bill Thomas, Tomas Surovy, Shane Doan, Steven Reinprecht, Ed Jovanovski, Nick Boyton, Derek Morris, Pacific Division