Ponds and Pucks

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

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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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

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.

• Drafted in 4th round, 90th overall in the 1995 NHL entry draft, by the SJ Sharks. Fellow Finn Miika Kiprusoff was taken the next round, also by the Sharks.
• Was not planning on a career in hockey at the time of his draft. Vesa Toskala was considering a return to school and leaving hockey entirely, unsure about the stability of a career in hockey. The Sharks convinced him to give North America a try.
• Scored 2 points (2 assists) against the Chicago Blackhawks on February 3, 2007, a Sharks club record.
• Earned the nickname “The Finnish Horse” from Sharks’ broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky.
• First NHL start was a total of ten minutes in relief of Evgeni Nabokov. Toskala faced and stopped two shots.
• Calls his goaltending style “bear style”.
• Credits playing soccer in Finland to his development as a goalie.
• Before Tuesday night’s debacle had never allowed 7 goals in a single game.

Miika Kiprusoff, Vesa Toskala, Evgeni Nabokov

Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying the sparring match between Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke and pretty much anyone connected with the Edmonton Oilers (GM Kevin Lowe and Head Coach Craig MacTavish in particular), but some of it seems forced, and some is just silly. I mean, “blowhard”?

If you’ve been living under a rock, Burke and Lowe continue to use the media (particularly Sportsnet.ca. I’m not saying that means anything, but….) to discuss their off-season battle for Dustin Penner, a player who 90 per cent of hockey fans had never heard of before the Oilers decided to sign him to an offer sheet and make him a trivia question subject for life. Don’t we have something better to talk about?

With the season finally under way, and a clean slate for nearly every team in the NHL (sorry Columbus), do we really need a couple of childish managers hogging the airwaves and front pages of hockey web sites? I’m all for airing of dirty laundry and public spats, but we’re in the exciting hockey days here.

Vincent Lecavalier is looking amazing. Mike Keenan is already starting to twitch. Daniel Briere is settling in nicely with his new team. Daniel Alfredsson continues to frustrate the Leafs, and that’s just good clean fun for everyone.We need to save the back-biting until at least November — you know, usually about the point you realize your favorite team’s off-season changes have amounted to zilch, while their biggest rival is being heralded for signing the second coming of Gretzky for half a million dollars.

If not then, we’ll still need some good fodder for that hockey news wasteland between the All-Star game and the trade deadline.

By that point, Penner’s true worth should be revealed and at least one of the combatants will get to add a layer of smugness to their shots. Then we can really sit back and enjoy the show.

Brian Burke, Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, Dustin Penner, Columbus, Vincent Lecavalier, Mike Keenan, Daniel Briere, Daniel Alfredsson

Alfredsson doesn’t care which Leafs’ goalie he scores on.

It was somewhat surprising to see Raycroft between the pipes when the puck dropped last night for the Senators/Leafs game. It was almost as surprising to see Toskala in net for the Leafs tonight in their second tilt against Ottawa.

What’s not surprising is that it didn’t seem to make one iota of difference.

I don’t blame the Leafs for not starting Toskala at home — the pressure there is ridiculous. I know players don’t go to Toronto to remain anonymous, but how much attention and pressure would Toskala be under if the Leafs hadn’t been forced to take the problem child Mark Bell as well?

If you’re the Leafs, who do you start in net next?

***

I haven’t checked yet, but I believe the Steve Downie suspension expires right before the Flyers play Ottawa again. Excellent. If you’re keeping track, tonight’s game against Calgary is Game #1 of the suspension.

Philly looked good tonight against Calgary. It’s only one game, but I swear the countdown on Mike Keenan’s first eruption is already well underway. A tale of two teams: Flyer’s star player Daniel Briere steps up and scores a goal in the latter half of the 3rd period, bringing the team to a 3-2 lead. Calgary star Jarome Iginla responds by stepping up and taking a hooking penalty. It was a lousy call, but still….

***

Up the highway, the Oilers eked out a strong win against the Sharks. Still processing that one… that and Nashville beating the crap out of Colorado. All this is telling me is that I’ll need to wait a few more weeks before buying SportsSelect tickets…

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Shutout count: Backstrom - 1, Mason - 1.

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Regular, less stream-of-consciousness content will return tomorrow. I promise. (Guilty confession: The NHL is my first love. Always has been. But after this weekend, part of me is still caught up in the NFL and ex-CFLer Jeff Garcia’s performance in Tampa).

Anaheim Ducks

Notable moves and changes: Signed D Mathieu Schneider (was with Detroit). Signed F Todd Bertuzzi (was with Detroit and Florida). Both Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne are on leave from the team while pending retirement.
Starting goalie: Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Summary of last year:Can’t quite remember… something involving a large, shiny, Cup-shaped sports trophy….
Prediction for this year:The year defending a Cup is always tough — every team plays you hard every night — and the Ducks are going to find it even tougher without the services of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne. It remains unknown what their plans are, but for all intents and purposes, the Ducks must soldier on without them. The additions of Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider are nice (depending which Bertuzzi shows up), and the team will remain a contender, but the cries of “dynasty” might be a tad premature.

Anaheim Ducks, Mathieu Schneider, Todd Bertuzzi, Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, Jean-Sebastien Giguere

San Jose Sharks

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Jeremy Roenick (was with Phoenix). Offered tryout to D Sandis Ozolinsh.
Starting goalie: Evgeni Nabokov
Summary of last year:Another strong season, another missed opportunity. Despite the amazing play of Joe Thornton, a season points tally of 107 (which was only good enough to rank them 5th in the Western Conference), and the crafty addition of Bill Guerin and Craig Rivet at the trade deadline, once again, someone else went to the final.
Prediction for this year:The Sharks are a bit of a mystery. With the departure of Bill Guerin and Scott Hannan, it looked like the Sharks might opt to go younger to fill out their roster — only 5 defensive spots are considered “taken” — instead they brought Jeremy Roenick out of his tentative retirement and offered Sandis Ozolinsh a tryout. At least this doesn’t affect the core of the team — Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo — and the incredible talent there. As long as these guys keep performing, and Nabokov holds steady in net, there’s no reason the Sharks won’t go deep into the playoffs again this year. Who knows, maybe JR is the heart this team needs.

San Jose Sharks, Jeremy Roenick, Sandis Ozolinsh, Evgeni Nabokov, Joe Thornton, Bill Guerin, Craig Rivet, Bill Guerin, Scott Hannan, Jeremy Roenick, Sandis Ozolinsh, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo

Dallas Stars

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Todd Fedoruk (was with Anaheim/Philadelphia).
Starting goalie: Marty Turco
Summary of last year: Considering the Stars finished 6th overall last season, it’s astonishing to see how poorly their offense fared. True, injuries plagued the team, but when Mike Ribeiro is your team’s scoring leader at 18 goals and 41 assists… well, we’ll just say it’s a real testament to how well the defense held up all season long.
Prediction for this year:So considering all that, what’s changed? Uh, nothing. They must be super confident in their defense, as Darryl Sydor has not been replaced. Up front, the team must be expecting Mike Modano and Brenden Morrow to have injury-free seasons (don’t like the odds on that one) and Ribeiro, Jussi Jokinen and Jere Lehtinen to all have career seasons, because the Stars made virtually no moves to fill in their offence.

Dallas Stars, Todd Fedoruk, Marty Turco, Mike Ribeiro, Darryl Sydor, Mike Modano, Brenden Morrow, Jussi Jokinen