Ponds and Pucks

Tampa Bay Lightning

Notable moves and changes: Acquired F Chris Gratton from the Panthers for picks. Signed D Brad Lukowich (was with the Islanders and New Jersey).
Starting goalie: Johan Holmqvist stole the starting role from Marc Denis last season and is slated to be this year’s starter, but there’s still a chance the Denis of a few seasons ago could show up and re-instate himself as #1.
Summary of last year: The Lightning fared marginally better than the previous season, but still look far from the Stanley Cup winners they were in 2004. While Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier had stellar seasons, Brad Richards was disappointing and the Lightning have not been the same in net since the departure of Nikolai Khabibulin.
Prediction for this year: Ah, drama — there’s never any shortage of it as long as head coach John Tortorella is around. When he isn’t publicly sparring with his own players, he’s cussing out the media on live TV. With the locally unpopular new ownership firmly installed (be honest, would you want Doug MacLean running your team?), Tortorella may find himself reined in. All this distracts from the fact the Lightning still do not have a reliable goaltender, and have done little to improve their defensive line, which was 28th in the league on the PK last season, despite the amazing play of Dan Boyle. Another lackluster season, and there may be wholesale changes in Tampa. The positives? The return of Chris Gratton and Brad Lukowich, and the always stunning play of Lecavlier and St. Louis. Keep these guys firing and the rest might not matter.

Tampa Bay Lightning, Chris Gratton, Brad Lukowich, Johan Holmqvist, Marc Denis, Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Nikolai Khabibulin, John Tortorella, Doug MacLean, Dan Boyle, Chris Gratton, Brad Lukowich

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

Toronto Maple Leafs

Notable moves and changes: Acquired G Vesa Toskala and F Mark Bell from San Jose for picks. Signed F Jason Blake (was with the Islanders).
Starting goalie:The money says Toskala, but Andrew Raycroft could cause trouble by having a stellar camp.
Summary of last year: The Leafs were one point out of the post-season after making a series of changes the previous off-season, including a new head coach and a new starting goalie. The Leafs aren’t in panic mode yet, but the Leafs Nation is starting to call for the head of GM John Ferguson Jr, especially since….
Prediction for this year: … is anyone even thinking of the season ahead, or are they looking at the Toskala trade and wondering if the goalie was worth the baggage in teammate Mark Bell? Bell has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL and placed in a substance abuse program after his guilty plea in a hit and run DUI in the US. He still has jail time to serve after the season is over, leading to questions about the effectiveness of his play and how much of a distraction he will be. Oh yeah.. the Leafs’ season. How much they miss the post-season by depends how long into the season Ferguson lasts, but the Leafs are likely no closer to the playoffs than they were last year.

Toronto Maple Leafs, Vesa Toskala, Mark Bell, Jason Blake, Andrew Raycroft, Leafs Nation, John Ferguson Jr

Montreal Canadiens

Notable moves and changes:Traded F Sergei Samsonov to the Chicago Blackhawks for D Jassen Cullimore and F Tony Salmelainen. Signed C Bryan Smolinksi (had been with Vancouver and Chicago), signed D Roman Hamrlik (had been with Calgary). Signed D Patrice Brisebois (had been with Colorado).
Starting goalie: Cristobal Huet
Summary of last year: Not much you can say when a team’s season comes down to the final game of the year against a divisional rival (Toronto). The Habs regular season points haven’t varied much over the past five years, from a high of 93 to a low of 77 — just enough to keep fans hoping and the playoff race interesting.
Prediction for this year: With the disappointing Samsonov out the door and Hamrlik installed on the blue line, the Habs haven’t made any jarring moves, but nicely got one of one problem and solved another. If Huet stays healthy and Saku Koivu continues to play like he did last season (sometimes it seems the Habs almost take Koivu for granted), the Habs stand a decent chance of actually not needing to beat the Leafs the final game of the regular season just to make the post-season.

Montreal Canadiens, Sergei Samsonov, Jassen Cullimore, Tony Salmelainen, Bryan Smolinksi, Roman Hamrlik, Patrice Brisebois, Cristobal Huet, Saku Koivu

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

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

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

Notable moves and changes: Signed free agent Daniel Briere (was with the Buffalo Sabres), picked up F Joffrey Lupul[/tags] and D [tag]Jason Smith from the Edmonton Oilers for D Joni Pitkanen and F Geoff Sanderson, and acquired F Scott Hartnell and D Kimmo Timonen from the Nashville Predators.

Starting goalies: Martin Biron, though Antero Niittymaki could challenge with a great camp.

Summary of last year: The Flyers were last in the league with a sobering 22-48-12 record, and were out of playoff contention well before the All-Star break. This team has nowhere to go but up.

Prediction for this year: If the off-season signings and trades are any indication, Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren is serious about righting the ship and doing it quickly. Even at the trade deadline, the Flyers were making moves to strengthen the team, picking up most notably Martin Biron. There isn’t a position on the team that hasn’t been improved, defense shored up with Smith and Timonen, the signing of Briere and the acquisition of Biron. Will they go from last in the league to making the playoffs? There’s a good chance.

Daniel Briere, Buffalo Sabres, Joffrey Lupul[/tags] and D [tag]Jason Smith, Edmonton Oilers, Joni Pitkanen, Geoff Sanderson, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen, Nashville Predators, Antero Niittymaki, Paul Holmgren

Mark Bell has plead guilty to charges of drunk driving causing injury and hit and run.

The charges are from an incident in San Jose last September. Bell will be sentenced to 6 months in October, and will serve the sentence at the end of the season.

Hold on….he’s going to be sentenced to 6 months but not served until April at the earliest? Going to jail is never a good thing, but what a sweet deal to say “Yeah, I’m not really available until this spring….”

This man has plead guilty to a crime. He has admitted to driving while drunk, hurting another person and fleeing. This is not his first or even second offense. He told Leafs’ GM John Ferguson he hoped it would “take care of itself”. This man should not be allowed to continue to make his millions on the ice as long as his confessed crime has gone unpunished.

Celebrities and other well-known figures get special treatment — there’s no denying that. And it could be argued that Bell’s jail time could have a negative impact on the team itself (Bell was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs over the summer), but that’s something the team needs to address and deal with.

Tell me this… you think Bell is going to a focused player come the end of the season? Do you think his mind is going to be on making the playoffs or winning the Stanley Cup?

Or is he going to be focusing too hard on what he’s got lined up when his season ends? How much distraction could his pending jail time cause the team?

What if the Leafs (God forbid) win the Cup? Does he show up for jail the next day?

Players have missed seasons or parts of seasons for a lot less serious matters than this. Bell should serve his time now, like anyone else would have to, and then be ready to focus on his team when they need him the most.

Mark Bell, San Jose, Toronto Maple Leafs

Many say this is the slowest time of year for the NHL, but I disagree. This is the time of year when something big is around the corner. The remaining free agents are being picked through and analyzed, coaches and GMs are looking to see where they need to bolster the team and making trades as necessary, and players are starting to prepare themselves for training camp. It can only get better from here!

To fill the time, Sportsnet.ca’s Alan Adams has an interesting look at which NHL records may never be broken, such as Glenn Hall’s astonishing 502 consecutive starts in net. I used to believe Wayne Gretzky’s 50 goals in 39 games could never be touched, but as I watch Sidney Crosby, and look at the Pittsburgh Penguins build a decent team around him, I’m starting to change my mind.

ESPN is debating whether Anaheim has the talent and skill to repeat their Cup win. Scott Niedermayer is obviously a huge factor, but in this NHL, I think it’s always tough to repeat. Teams treat you a lot differently after you’ve won a Cup. Every team rises to the occasion to play the defending Champions — there are no nights off when you play those teams languishing at the bottom of the league; everyone wants to prove they can beat you.

I don’t think it will be the Ducks this year. That said, I didn’t think it would be the Ducks last year, so take that with a grain of salt.

As we inch closer to training camp and the start of the season we’ll take a look at each of the teams and whether they’ve improved or reduced their Cup chances in the off-season. Stay tuned!

NHL, Glenn Hall, Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, Scott Niedermayer

• Cost to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning: $206 million. Listening to John Tortorella slam the team’s previous owner? Priceless. (Fan590 audio link is here).
• Edmonton Oilers resign Brodziak and Roy. Craig Simpson’s out, Brodziak and Roy are in. Somehow I think they’re going to need a little more to get back into the playoffs.
• By the way, Simpson is now saying he’s leaving coaching because he realized he’d never be the next Scotty Bowman. There’s so many snarky comments I can make there I’m not even sure where to start…
• Staal brothers offered deal. And why not? Young men busted for drinking too much at a campground during a stag…. I know a lot of guys who call that “Saturday”.
• Hawks extend Savard’s stay. Good on ‘em. One of the best things to happen to the Hawks in years.
• Bruins sign their first round draft pick, Zach Hamill. The Bruins need this kid, both for their team and to keep their fans’ hopes alive.
• Hawks sign James Wisniewski. The Hawks on the other hand destroyed their fans’ hopes years ago…
• Coyotes ink Joel Perrault. Coyotes continue to be a mystery team… how will they do this year?
• CHL Schedule released. Colorado Eagles will begin their defense of the CHL championship title.
• Karel Pilar signs with Thrashers. Pilar’s been out of the NHL for nearly two years battling a heart condition.
• Chris Chelios testifies in murder trial. Nothing funny here. A former Cheli’s restaurant employee murdered two of his former co-workers, one right after Chelios spoke with her.
• Ducks’ Joe DiPenta thrills sick kids with Stanley Cup. Feel-good Cup story of the week.

Tampa Bay Lightning, John Tortorella, Edmonton Oilers, Zach Hamill, James Wisniewski, Coyotes, Joel Perrault, Colorado Eagles, Karel Pilar, Thrashers, Chris Chelios

Big news today is the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning to Absolute Hockey Enterprises — a group that includes former Florida Panthers coach and former Columbus Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean.

No one was more surprised than Lightning fans and the Tampa media. Unlike the public woes of teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators, there wasn’t the slightest indication the current Lightning owners were considering an offer, let alone selling the team.

Lightning fans went from shock to fear and anger quickly though — MacLean isn’t exactly a friendly face for Tampa fans. Never mind the Columbus Blue Jackets and the unfortunate legacy left there, Lightning fans endured years of MacLean at the helm of the state-rival Panthers, years when the Panthers benefitted from a well-stocked expansion draft and regularly came to town to wipe their feet on the Bolts.

It’s like Scotty Bowman buying the Colorado Avalanche. Glen Sather buying the Islanders — or worse, the Flames.

The Lightning/Panthers rivalry may not be a legendary one, but for a sports-happy state, it’s an intense one, and usually not terrible classy. Any one else remember the rats?

Despite all this, MacLean has been saying all the right things: there are no plans to move the team, there is (as yet) no indication MacLean intends to take over GM or coaching duties, and there are hopes there will be a budget increase, which has been a recent sticking point with the current ownership.

Then, I can’t help but wonder…. how much was Columbus paying MacLean if he’s able to buy a hockey team?

Tonight’s Game 5 could be the end of the NHL season, the last hockey game for the season. All of us who want a longer season need to root quite hard for the Senators. But I don’t think they’ll be able to pull it off. They have been outplayed at every level by the Ducks.

If they want to win, then Ottawa needs to execute on defense and maintain some level of consistency on offense. They’ve yet to do either. ESPN2 has a stat on their bottom line about how outscored the Senators are in the 3rd period. They need to win every period. It needs to be a blowout. Otherwise it’s just a delay of the inevitable — a loss in the final frame of what will be the last game of the season.

NHL, hockey, Senators, Ducks, Ottawa, Stanley Cup, Anaheim

So there it is. The Senators had a chance to win, but let this one go. Part of the blame has to go to Ray Emery, whom I love, and who got caught off-guard leaving the net wide open for the game-winner. Ray, I love you, but you need to not let that happen.

The Ducks played well, of course. They were crisp and they seemed to be putting the puck where it needed to be, where the defense wasn’t. Contrast that with Ottawa who played better last night but still not good enough. They seemed more chaotic, less structured. They put the puck on the net but didn’t seem to know what to do after that. They were not in any way as efficient as they should have been.

The Senators need to spend their offseason fixing their major weakness. They are too reliant on a few players and not set up to capitalize. They need to work on some set plays. Right now they look like a midget team just running down the ice as quickly as possible without looking.

Senators, Ducks, Ottawa, Anaheim, NHL, hockey, Stanley Cup