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

The Blackhawks had one task this season — only one simple task if they were to take advantage of the impressive off-season moves they made.

Stay healthy.

During training camp, rookie phenom Jonathan Toews[tag] took a puck to the finger and missed the rest of camp, and — so far — the season opener. Another player, [tag]Ryan Stokes, was hurt the same night when his face was cut open after falling into a pile of players (Stokes did not remain with the Hawks).

Now, after one game (a 1-0 win against Minnesota) the Hawks have lost yet another key player in Martin Havlat.

Havlat left the game in the third period after colliding with a couple of Wild players in front of the Minnesota net, and when he reappeared, his arm was in a sling. There’s concern about his shoulder. The x-ray results will come today.

FanHouse has a great post about the injury, along with a discussion about Havlat’s medical record over the years (he hasn’t played more than 68 games in a season since 2003).

Guess it’s up to new acquisitions Sergei Samsonov, Yanic Perrault and Robert Lang to step up and fill in the gap. That’s what the make the big bucks for, right?

Hopefully Havlat’s injury is minor and he’s back on the ice by next week. Hopefully the Hawks are getting this injury nonsense out of the way early. But this is cutting it too close waaaaay too early for the Hawks.

I love the Hawks, I really do. They have some of the best (and most under-appreciated) fans in the league. But wow, just wow. As far as sports curses go, this one is a doozy.

Jonathan Toews[tag] took a puck to the finger and missed the rest of camp, and — so far — the season opener. Another player, [tag]Ryan Stokes, Martin Havlat, Sergei Samsonov, Yanic Perrault, Robert Lang

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

• 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