Ponds and Pucks

During last night’s game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Calgary Flames, Ryan Smyth went for the puck along the boards behind the net. Seeing a red jersey rapidly heading his way, he turned to protect the puck, and took a brutal hit into the glass, cutting his nose.

We could debate the legality of the hit for pages (”It was a hit from behind” “He turned toward the glass as he saw the skater coming”), but Smyth fell to the ice, knew he’d likely hurt his nose, got up, skated to the bench and went to the locker room for repairs.

No rolling around on the ice, no crying to the ref for a penalty, no accusations of dirty play. Even the announcers treated it as a typical play that Smyth would be involved in: No analysis of how he purposely turned away from the hit, no debate of poor play. This was simply Ryan Smyth playing his brand of hockey.

Smyth returned just a few minutes later, with a repair done to the bridge of his nose, some cotton in one of his nostrils and a decidedly crooked looking schnooze.

God, I love this guy. (more…)

I can’t believe we’re talking about this again.

The NHL has suspended Mattias Ohlund four games for his vicious two-handed slash on Mikko Koivu. See for yourself here:

We could sit here and debate the length of the suspension and the rise of violence in the NHL today, especially among Philadelphia Flyer type players (I kid, I kid), but something else got me thinking.

When Ohlund slashed Koivu, breaking the bone, Koivu was the leading scorer of the Minnesota Wild. Vancouver is a mere 3 points behind Minnesota in the thus far disappointing Northwest Division. The teams plays again on Wednesday.

Koivu is out for a week, so when the teams play again, Vancouver will have an advantage.

So thanks to a Vancouver player’s dirty work, both teams will be missing players, but the Wild will feel it most of all. Even with the suspension, Vancouver comes out ahead after the slash.

If a team is essentially rewarded for dirty play, why stop?

Should players who go after players of teams in their own division face a stricter suspension?

When the Flyer’s Jesse Boulerice injured the Canuck’s Ryan Kessler, it did the Flyers no favors. But if Koivu were out for an extended time and the Wild lost a few games from it, who would benefit more than a team that plays them eight times a year?

(This could turn into another argument against playing the teams in your division a thousand times a season and not seeing half the league for three years, but I promise I won’t go there. Today anyway).

Now, I know, one team’s players shouldn’t be more important than another team’s and it’s tough to get the suspensions warranted for half the stuff we see anyway, and we don’t want to take the intensity out of the divisional rivalries that we do have. I’m not talking about fighting injuries or those injuries that happen during the regular course of play. Just the really brutal obvious stuff.

I can’t get past the fact that a Vancouver player willfully injured another team’s player — I mean the slash broke the bone — and even with a suspension, they come out ahead for the next matchup. I mean, they give up Ohlund, but the other team loses the play Koivu. I’d make that trade a hundred times.

Wouldn’t you?

Mattias Ohlund, Mikko Koivu, Philadelphia Flyer, Minnesota Wild, Jesse Boulerice, Ryan Kessler

Mike Keenan watch update:

Flames managed to stop their losing skid at 5 after beating the Wild 3-2 last night, so Mount St. Keenan may have cooled off a tad.

Here’s something odd about the Flames’ streaks this season: They started slowly, then hit their stride around the time they first played Minnesota — and broke Minnesota’s unbeaten in regulation streak. Minnesota then hit a rough patch, played the Flames again, and beat them soundly. Since then Minnesota has regained previous form and the Flames went on a downward spiral.

Now the Flames have beaten the Wild again…. be curious to see if this sets off another reversal of fortunes…

***

I was always taught that if I can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. I’m not sure how well that applies to hockey OR blogging, but to play it safe, I’ll just link to Going Five Hole’s photos of the NHL All-Star jerseys.

Mike Keenan, NHL All-Star jerseys

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who did a double-take when I saw Brett Hull had been named co-interm GM of the Dallas Stars (or maybe I was — sometimes the most obvious moves pass me right by). Allan Muir of SI.com has a good write-up of the situation and why this could backfire dramatically for the Stars.

I hadn’t released how poorly the drafting had turned out for Dallas, but now I can’t think of a single rookie who has stuck. As Muir outlines some of the deals that dismantled the 1999 Stanley Cup winning team over the years, it’s a sobering look at more than 5 years of mis-management. One by one, the deals don’t add up to much, but put together, one releases how much the Stars have let go and how little they’ve gotten in return. And how little they’ve done about it.

Brett Hull, Dallas Stars, Allan Muir

Some of the highlights of Sean Avery’s career that have little to do with hockey:

• Avery first made his presence known when he spoke out during the 2004-2005 NHL lockout, claiming the NHLPA had lied to its members about the lockout.
• In the 2005 season, Avery made his now legendary comments regarding French-Canadian players and visors. After Denis Gauthier gave Jeremy Roenick a concussion, Avery said this was typical behavior for French players with visors, to play rough and not back it up. Avery later apologized for his comments.
• Later that same season Avery was accused of calling Georges Laraque a “monkey” during a heated exchange on the ice. Avery continues to deny that allegation.
• Still that same season, Avery became the first player in NHL history to be fined under the new “diving” rules. He was fined just over a month into the season.
• Avery was fined again the next day for mouthing off about the fine and the NHL’s Colin Campbell, claiming the fine wasn’t about diving, but something about Avery himself.
• At the end of the same season (still in 2005-2006), Avery was caught up in a very public feud with former player and current announcer Brian Hayward. Avery took exception to Hayward’s comments that Avery had backed down from a fight, and slammed Hayward’s abilities as an announcer and a player. Hayward famously retorted, “How would you know? When I played, you were in your third year of eighth grade.”
• Unsurprisingly, near the end of the season, the Kings suspended Avery, saying he was arguing with coaching staff and refusing practice drills. However, the Kings signed Avery to a $1.1 million deal in the off-season.



• Avery was traded to the New York Rangers in February of 2007. Within two months the Rangers had made the playoffs despite being well out of contention for most of the season. Coaches and players credited Avery as being the catalyst behind the turnaround, saying he had acted as a leader, pumped up the team and led by example.
• However, by the time arbitration came around the following off-season, even the Rangers labelled him a “detriment to the team” and “not a mature player”.
• All wasn’t rosy by the beginning of training camp either.

Avery returned from injury on November 3. It took a week for the madness to return.

Sean Avery, Denis Gauthier, Jeremy Roenick, Georges Laraque, Colin Campbell, Brian Hayward

The always great Eric Duhatschek has a fun piece on Mike Keenan and the woes of the Calgary Flames, touching on the well-anticipated meltdown of Keenan himself.

I swear, half of the sport in Calgary is waiting for Keenan to lose his mind. If he hasn’t after back-to-back-to-back 4-1 losses, then when?

In all seriousness, how long can the Flames ride the talents of Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff? As Duhatschek points out, only 5 forwards are scoring regularly (regularly being more than 2 goals), and even some of those are starting to cool.

Where is the Keenan eruption? There’s no way he’s reformed that much. Just ask Roberto Luongo.

Is Keenan waiting for Iginla to stand up and call out his teammates? That might never happen, Iginla has never been the type of player to publicly blast his teammates — he’s much more likely to suck it up and try to do it all himself.

Maybe that’s what will finally set Keenan off.

Eric Duhatschek, Mike Keenan, Jarome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff, Roberto Luongo

Leafs fans chanting “Let’s Go Raptors” during the Leafs 7-1 loss to Washington? Ouch. What is wrong with the Leafs that they can’t seem to string a series of wins together at home? They keep blaming defensive woes, but registering a single goal a game isn’t going to help matters much either. Whatever doesn’t kill you will make you….. ah nevermind.

Ovechkin got his 7th and 8th if you’re keeping score. Pretty much everyone else on the Capitals got in on the fun as well, with 6 different goal scorers.

And Leafs fans? NBA opens tonight. Maybe the Raptors will fare….. nah.

***

On the other end of the goaltending spectrum, the Flames locked up former Vezina trophy winner Miikka Kiprusoff yesterday, paying a paltry $35 million over 6 years. What a brilliant move. Kipper may be starting slow, but by November he usually shakes off the rust and carries the Flames the rest of the season.

Give Flames GM Darryl Sutter a lot of credit: 2 years ago the Flames were looking at having to resign 3 major UFAs in 2008 — Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regher and Kiprusoff, plus one RFA in Dion Phaneuf. The 3 UFAs are now locked into long-term contracts (Iginla and Regher each signed for 5 years), and the Flames can focus entirely on Phaneuf.

***

Philly’s Randy Jones has been suspended 2 games for his hit on Patrice Bergeron. Is it just me, or is that a complete waste of time? Clearly the Flyers didn’t care enough about a pair of 20 game (or more) suspension to clean up their act. Granted, this hit was a lot different. Fact is, the Flyers are successful right now, and their rough play (insert 70s Broadstreet Bullies reference here) is part of the reason they’re doing so well. Why on earth would they stop now?

If the NHL is going to hand out a suspension to deter these actions, they should make it, you know, an actual deterrent.

Ovechkin, Miikka Kiprusoff, Darryl Sutter, Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regher, Dion Phaneuf, Randy Jones, Patrice Bergeron, Broadstreet Bullies

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

Colorado Avalanche at Edmonton Oilers - Colorado is 4-4-0, Edmonton is 3-5-0, but the real story is Ryan Smyth’s return to Edmonton. Sentiments are expressed much better at Covered In Oil, and the news side is covered much better at KuklasKorner. Battle Of Alberta also chimes in. Don’t underestimate what Smyth meant to Oiler fans.

Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings - Nashville is 2-5-0 and LA is 3-6-0. Both teams have gotten to a slow start this season, especially former contender Nashville, now stuck in a 5 game losing streak. LA is turning it around slowly, stopping their own five game skid with a convincing win against Vancouver. No word on if the game will be affected by the fires in the area. Even though they’re likely not close to the arena, there are enough roads closed and confusion in the area. Prayers to anyone in So. Cal right now.

***

Here we go again: The Peter Forsberg rumor mill is alive and well. We’re back to Ottawa, since Petey will only play for a contender. Oh, and he wants a 3-year deal worth $5 million a season.

Disclaimer: I’ve never been much of a Forsberg fan, but that might a result of having to play the Avs 8 times a season when they seemed to own all the talent in the division. Or maybe it was the way he would crumple to the ice if someone looked at him wrong and the refs would buy it every time…. but I digress. Ottawa seems to be churning along fine without Peter The Great, and may not have the cap room to make a 3 year commitment. Colorado (Forsberg’s other choice), may not want him enough to give in either. So then what?

***

The Leafs woes continue as they’ve now lost Darcy Tucker to a knee injury. Tucker will be wearing a brace, and will be out indefinitely.

That really sucks for Toronto. Tucker is annoying as all get-out, but he’s clearly a key member of the Toronto club. Losing him indefinitely isn’t going to help the Leafs ship right itself.

Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Ryan Smyth, Peter Forsberg, Darcy Tucker

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

San Jose 4 - Calgary 1 — so much for the battle of the goalies. Nabokov nearly posted his second shutout in as many games, and Kiprusoff experienced his first yanking at the hands of Mike Keenan this season. Kipper was far from the problem, however. The rest of the Flames didn’t seem ready for the game, with [tag]Eric Goddard/[tag] having the best night of them all. Goddard got into two fights and had a goal called back. Battle of Alberta has more.

Vancouver 1 - Carolina 3 — Vancouver saw their road unbeaten string end and Carolina just keeps rolling. The win brings Carolina to 5-1-3, enough to be one of the better teams in the league without bringing attention to how good they are. Well, Vancouver knows now. More Canucks analysis at Canucks Hockey Blog.

Boston 1 - Montreal 6 — Ouch. I really thought the Bruins were going to do it this time. It looked like all the stars were aligning for them. But instead Montreal had 6 different goal scorers and broke the Bruins four-game winning streak, and kept the strange curse the Habs hold over the Bruins intact. A Theory Of Ice.

So it looks like all the games last night that were supposed to be interesting matchups turned out to be one-sided blow outs. I actually was relieved to turn the TV over to CSI: Miami, where the episode suspiciously featured the death of a Florida athlete named “Doug McClain.” I know the Tampa Bay Lightning’s new owner is Doug MacLean and is best known for his (lack of) coaching abilities, but….

San Jose, Calgary, Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Mike Keenan, Vancouver, Carolina, Boston, Montreal, Bruins

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

Everyone who thought Jeremy Roenick would have an effective season with the San Jose Sharks after they pulled him out of retirement, raise your hand. Yeah, me too.

But the reality is, Roenick is holding his own. He scored his 498th career goal against Nashville on Saturday night, and nearly got his 499th. The Sharks are more successful with Roenick in the lineup (4-1-1 when Roenick plays, 0-2-0 when he sits). Sure, he’s not in every game thanks to a bum knee, but if fans know anything about JR, it’s that keeping him out of a game does not mean he’s not making his presence known to his teammates.

I’ve had a love/hate things for Roenick for years. I respect any guy who speaks his mind in a league where there are far too many sports cliches and stock answers, even if I don’t like 90 per cent of what Roenick says. But I’m rooting for him to get goals number 499, 500, 501 and beyond.

***

Fox Sports has a fun story on whether 500 goals still means anything. Especially fun is the 500-goal trivia in the middle, with gems such as which goalie has allowed the most 500-goal markers (Patrick Roy).

***

Saku Koivu is no longer the only Koivu in town. Mikko Koivu has long languished in relative (no pun intended) obscurity in Minnesota. Sure, everyone knew about him, but beyond his famous older brother and the fact he wasn’t a bust and showed up on the scoresheet once in a while, the younger Koivu was often overlooked, or at least not given the due he deserved.

Not anymore.

Now that Minnesota is turning heads and dominating the west, Koivu has become tough to disregard.

Jeremy Roenick, San Jose Sharks, Patrick Roy, Saku Koivu, Mikko Koivu

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.

***

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).

***

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

The Canadiens allow a goal with 11 seconds remaining and go on to lose in a shoot-out to the Panthers.

The Flames rise to a 4-0 lead early in the second period and go on to lose in a shoot-out to the Avalanche.

Which team deserves the dunce cap more?

***

ESPN’s second power rankings of the season are up. No surprises here, though I think the Penguins-love is a little heavy. 5th overall for a .500 team? Ranked ahead of 3-1-0 teams like the Flyers and Lightning? I know all it takes is Sid the Kid to kick start his game and the Penguins are right back in the top 5, but it hasn’t happened yet.

***

A quick look at the NHL standings shows some interesting things:

• Minnesota remains the only team unbeaten in regulation.
• At the other end of the spectrum, at 0-6-0 Atlanta has yet to register a single point in the standings. Those of you with bets over the first coach fired should start looking at who has poor Bob Hartley.
• Philadelphia is the only Atlantic Division team over .500. Both the Northeast and Southeast divisions have 3 teams over .500.
• Los Angeles has allowed the most goals in the league (30). Toronto is a close second at 29.
• Toronto also has scored the most goals in the league (26)
• Anaheim has played twice as many games (8) as Pittsburgh, Tampa, St. Louis and Columbus.
• New Jersey and Boston have yet to play a home game. Every team in the league has played a road game.