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

Columbus Blue Jackets

Notable moves and changes:Signed C Michael Peca (was with Toronto), signed C Kris Beech (had been with Washington). GM Doug MacLean fired, replaced by Scott Howson.
Starting goalie: Fredrik Norrena
Summary of last year: Miss the playoffs, rinse, repeat. The Jackets are only notable in that they are the only team yet to have made the post-season. Last year’s performance was a small regression from the year before, yet still their second best points performance ever (73).
Prediction for this year: Score bonus points if you remembered Sergei Fedorov is on this team. Peca has clearly been brought in to give the way over-worked Rick Nash a helping hand, but this team’s troubles go way beyond one free agent center. Fedorov, Fredrik Modin, Jason Chimera and Anson Carter all need to step up — the Blue Jackets’ scoring was abysmal last season, tied for 28th in the league. Defensively they don’t look much better. Anders Eriksson shouldn’t leave a gaping hole in your defence, but the departed d-man was second in defenceman scoring (23 points, all assists) and first on the team in plus/minus. Rostislav Klesla, Ron Hainsey and Duvie Westcott are all under pressure to improve. No, this isn’t going to be Columbus’s year either.

Michael Peca, Kris Beech, Doug MacLean, Scott Howson, Fredrik Norrena, Sergei Fedorov, Rick Nash, Fredrik Modin, Jason Chimera, Anson Carter