Ponds and Pucks

Tonight’s games:

NY Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins - Rangers are 2-4-1, Pens are 4-3-0. Jordan Staal and Marc Staal will be playing against each other for the first time. Rangers recently lost Straka to injury and are in a 3-game losing skid, while the Pens are hoping to extend their winning streak to 3.

Atlanta Thrashers at Toronto Maple Leafs - Atlanta is 1-7-0, while Toronto is 3-4-2. Both teams have had disappointing starts, Atlanta’s coach was fired last week. The rest is too depressing to mention, between defensive woes and goaltending nightmares, winless streaks and goals against. Click the link if you really want to know. Or skip the whole thing and watch Family Guy instead.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Chicago Blackhawks - Columbus is 3-3-1, Chicago is (5-3-0). These division rivals have languished at the bottom of the league for years, so it’s nice to see some improvement on both sides. Chicago’s highly touted rookies Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have made all the difference, and are both among team leaders for points. Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire already has an amazing 3 shutouts this season, and Rick Nash is leading the team with 5 goals.

Anaheim Ducks at St. Louis Blues - Ducks are 4-5-1, Blues are 4-2-0. Blues are another Central division team that has taken off early in the season thanks to free agent signing Paul Kariya and to solid netminding from Manny Legace. The Ducks are struggling and currently mired in their longest season-opening road losing streak ever.

NY Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Jordan Staal, Marc Staal, Straka, Atlanta Thrashers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Pascal Leclaire, Rick Nash, Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Blues, Paul Kariya, Manny Legace

FanNation has posted a “shortlist” for the next Atlanta Thrashers head coach.

It looks like pretty much every other list floating around the hockey rumor-sphere — it begins with and highlights Pat Quinn and the works its way to the oft-discussed choice of Brad McCrimmon. But there’s a couple of other names in there too.

My money’s on Quinn, not because he’s the best choice, but because he’s a name, and one players respect. I’d still love to see McCrimmon get it though.

***

While the rest of the city of Boston is celebrating the Red Sox and their trip to the World Series, some die-hard hockey fans are still rubbing their hands in glee at the Bruins/Habs game tonight.

The Bruins are going into the legendary match-up with the upper hand for the first time in….. well, a really long time. To Bruins fans a chance to beat their Montreal nemesis is the ultimate bonus to Boston’s strongest start in years.

Finally acquiring a number one goaltender in Manny Fernandez has likely been a huge reason for such a great start. Oh wait, Tim Thomas has been the one manning the pipes? Go figure…

***

Games tonight:

Vancouver at Carolina - Vancouver is 4-4-0, Carolina is 4-1-3. Ryan Kesler broke out against the Blue Jackets with 2 goals the other night, while Justin Williams is leading the ‘Canes with 11 points.

Boston at Montreal - Boston is on a 4 game winning streak, Montreal broke a 3 game losing streak on Saturday when they beat Buffalo. Boston’s D has been particularly strong, allowing only an average of 2.14 goals a game. Montreal’s defense got a boost from free agent signing Roman Hamrlik as he potted a goal and two assists on Saturday.

San Jose at Calgary - San Jose is 4-3-1 (4-1-1 when Roenick plays, 0-2-0 when he doesn’t), Calgary is 4-2-2. Nabokov is coming off a shutout Saturday and has two career shutouts against the Flames. Flames beat their provincial rivals the Oilers on Saturday and are riding Jarome Iginla’s 5 game point streak.

Atlanta Thrashers, Pat Quinn, Brad McCrimmon, Red Sox, World Series, Manny Fernandez, Tim Thomas, Ryan Kesler, Justin Williams, Roman Hamrlik, Nabokov, Jarome Iginla

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

Atlanta Thrashers

Notable moves and changes:Signed F Scott White.
Starting goalie: Kari Lehtonen
Summary of last year: The Thrashers made the playoffs for the first time, and it appeared as though they spent so much energy making the post-season they had nothing left when they got there. Atlanta was swept in four games by the Rangers, and that’s putting it kindly.
Prediction for this year:Atlanta spent a lot of money acquiring the short-term talent to get to the playoffs only to see their playoff run aborted and their rent-a-players leave as soon as they could. The nucleus of the team is still there in Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk and Vyacheslav Kozlov, but there’s a sharp drop off in production after those three names. They’ve added some players to round out the roster, but nothing that’s going to make a large difference one way or the other. Atlanta spent a lot to get their playoff players last season — it’s not likely they have it in them to risk that much again.

Atlanta Thrashers, Scott White, Kari Lehtonen, Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vyacheslav Kozlov

• 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

The Rangers won their series last night, thus making them the first team to move to the second round.  Because of the re-seed, they will wait until a couple of other series end before learning their second round opponent.  My fiance is a Rangers fan (mainly so she can annoy me) and she was having a little fun with this.  It ruined my mood though.
Where did the Thrashers go wrong?  They were out-played in every aspect of the series.  Look back at Game 3, where they lost 7-0.  There are two things to see here — the first is that the Rangers scored 7 goals.  It’s not a goalie problem when the score is that high, it’s a total team problem.  The Rangers had 35 shots and outshot the Thrashers in every period — including a 9-3 final period.  The Rangers were clearly the better team, as much as it pains me to say it.

Add 1 to our overtime count as the Devils beat the Lightning 4-3.  Tampa Bay is holding their own much better than Atlanta did, against a tougher opponent as well.  The Thrashers and the Lightning were fighting for the top spot in the Southeast Division and we have to question if the right team won at the end of the day.  Tampa Bay had goals from both St. Louis and LeCavalier, and if they want to win the series, they will need some more production from them.

Buffalo beat the Islanders 4-2.  The Sabres still have to win 1 more game but they’ve won the series, having won both of the first 2 games in Uniondale.  The series will move back to Buffalo for game 5, and I predict the Sabres will win it.  The Sabres are looking amazing this year and have what it takes to go to the Conference finals if they play right.  Meanwhile, the Isles cannot seem to get past the first round of the playoffs.  It would appear that they are still missing one element, one piece, to get them to the next level.

San Jose beat Nashville 3-2.  The Sharks are one win away from moving on to the next round and I don’t think they’ll have much problem getting there.  The score was close but the game wasn’t really — San Jose has been outplaying the Predators in pretty much every way.

By the end of the weekend, we should see a few series wrapped up.

A note: I am on the West Coast tomorrow, so my post may go up a bit late.

Technorati Tags: NHL, Stanley Cup, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devis, Tampa Bay Lightning, San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators

7-0
Grumble.
7-0

I am an Islanders fan.  As such, I have certain duties and responsibilities.  One of them is despising the Rangers, which I think I do quite nicely.  And after last night’s debacle, I am in a sour mood.  I have no choice but to be.

I don’t know what Atlanta was thinking last night, but you can’t play like they did.  It’s the playoffs, every game counts, yadda yadda yadda.  Here’s the important truth — you CANNOT hand a game over.  If you lose, you need to stay competitive.  Game four of the series is tonight, and the Rangers will be playing with an incredible high when they skate tonight on home ice.  What does Atlanta need to overcome it?  They need to score early and often — they need 2 goals in the first ten minutes and they need to keep the Rangers off the board over the same time period.  All grumbles aside, the Rangers are a formidable team, and you can’t roll over and die for one game without expecting it to cost you in the future.

Anaheim couldn’t close the deal last night, and now they will have to wait until Thursday before they can end the series.  But here’s the thing about the game — the Wild won 4-1.  This was the first game in the series that was won by more than a single goal.  Does that mean anything for the fate of the series?  We’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out.

The rest of last night’s games:
Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1  (Ottawa leads the series 3-1)
Vancouver 2, Dallas 1 (Vancouver leads the series 3-1)
Calgary 3, Detroit 2 (Detroit leads the series 2-1)

Technorati Tags: Hockey, NHL, Stanley Cup, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings

Eastern Conference:
Buffalo leads the Islanders 2-1
Tampa Bay leads New Jersey 2-1
Rangers lead Atlanta 2-0
Ottawa leads Pittsburgh 2-1

Western Conference
Detroit leads Calgary 2-0
Anaheim leads Minnesota 3-0
Vancouver leads Dallas 2-1
San Jose leads Nashville 2-1

Anaheim could sweep the series tonight, but I doubt it.

So here is my newest feature, the Overtime Count.
To date, there have been 7 overtime periods, and all have been in the Western Conference.

As we start looking at the end of the North American hockey seasons; last night, the AIHL started up their 2007 season with Melbourne dominating Adelaide 6-1. Canberra was also victorious, taking the win from the Brisbane Blue Toungues 5-2.

Finally, a mea culpa. Many thanks to Lyndsey who pointed out that it was Buffalo, not Detroit who won the President’s Cup, despite what I wrote in my previous posting. I have no good excuse except that I had a very long day including hitting two Napa Valley vineyards for wine tastings and a 2 hour drive. I will be more studious in the future and make sure to error-check myself.

The NHL has a nice little list of the longest playoff games. If you scroll down to June 10, 1996, they list the only OT goal to ever win the Stanley Cup. That right there is a game that I’d love to relive. I wonder if anyone has video of it that they could post online? I also noticed the high amount of 1-0 games. My fiance, who I have gotten into hockey, hates games like that. She likes high-scoring games. I, on the other hand, love a good defensive battle. So here’s my discussion for the weekend:
Which do you prefer? Defensive low-scoring games or high-scoring shootouts?

Recapping the game one’s from last night:
Tampa Bay 3, New Jersey 5
Atlanta 3, Rangers 4
I caught a decent part of this game and the last minute and a half showed how good Lunqvist can be. He held up when the Rangers were down 2 skaters and were blasting at the net.
Detroit 4, Calgary 1
This one wasn’t a game.
Buffalo 4, Islanders 1
I’m calling shenanigens on this game, and predicting a comeback for my Isles in game 2. Why? Just ‘cuz

The NHL playoffs start tomorrow evening with 4 matchups (3 on in the Western Conference).  So today, we break down the 4 Eastern Conference matchups.

1) Buffalo vs 8) Islanders
Season Series:  Sabres win 3-1
Buffalo has had a miracle season, coming in with one of their highest point totals ever.  They have played their best hockey this season, setting a club record for wins.  Meanwhile, the Islanders - who have been running hot and cold all season - are coming off a season-ending win streak and are looking forward to the return of Rick DiPietro for this opening round matchup.  The Isles have a chance, albeit a slim one, to move forward if they can get some strong defense and keep Buffalo off the board.  The Sabres led the league in goals during the regular season, ending with 308 goals (20 more than the next highest team and significantly higher than the league average of 241 goals).  The Sabres, for their part, just need to keep playing the way they have all season if they want to walk into the next round.
My pick: Sabres in 5

2) Devils vs 7) Lightning
Season Series: Lightning win 3-1 (1 overtime win)
On paper, the Devils should win this one pretty easily.  The Southeastern conference is one of the weakest in the entire league and the Lightning are not a team that everyone is picking to go very far.  But here’s the thing with Tampa Bay: they have two of the best offensive players in the league with St. Louis and Lecavalier.  The Devils are a one-dimensional team this year, so if Tampa can light up Brodeur, they might actually have a chance.  I’ll pick them for the upset, just to make things interesting.
My pick: Lightning in 6

3) Thrashers vs 6) Rangers
Season Series: Atlanta wins 3-1
See above; the Southeastern Division is weak.  Atlanta and Tampa fought each other and no one else to get here.  The Rangers have a team that can get very hot and perform well.  They have quite a few future Hall-of-Famers on the team and they are playing like they want to go all the way.  But the team is old and streaky.  This will be their only playoff win this year.
My pick: Rangers in 6

4) Senators vs 5) Penguins
Season Series: Ottawa won 3-1 (2 Shootouts)
This is the series that EVERYONE is looking forward to.  Ignore the season series results, Ottawa is nowhere near as dominant as it would appear.  Sidney Crosby is one of the best hockey players ever and the team is well-prepared for a long series with a young team that can skate rings around everyone else.  As for Ottawa, Dany Heatley has come into his own since the fatal accident in Atlanta.  Everyone said that moving away from Atlanta would be good for him and they have been right.  Add him to Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson, players who have been the backbone to a dominant Senators team and they might be unbeatable.
I need to pick someone but this is a hard series to nail down.
My pick: Senators in 7

Technorati Tags: NHL, Stanley Cup, Playoffs, Hockey, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlanta Thrashers, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins