Ponds and Pucks

• 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

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

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…

***

Shutout count: Backstrom - 1, Mason - 1.

***

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).

Detroit Red Wings

Notable moves and changes:Signed D Brian Rafalski (was with New Jersey). Signed F Dallas Drake.
Starting goalie: Dominik Hasek
Summary of last year: The rest of the league can only dream to have a team as consistently well-built as the Red Wings. It’s not like they don’t suffer their share of key player losses and injuries — it’s just they always seem to recover in fine fashion (how many teams could survive the loss of a Steve Yzerman with barely a misstep?). Last season they were yet again 1st in the Central Division, 1st in the Western Conference and 2nd overall. All this with a roster most would consider “too old” on many other teams (2 players in their 40s!). Yeah, they got to play the lowly Blues, Blue Jackets and Blackhawks 8 times each, but so did Nashville. Prediction for this year: It wasn’t tough for the Wings to get younger, but again, they did it smartly, bringing in steady veterans and keeping the core of the team intact. Rafalski’s camp injury has thrown the team into a bit of a loop, but with the Wings’ depth, they have little to worry about… especially since the weak Central Division around them hasn’t improved much.

Detroit Red Wings, Brian Rafalski, Dallas Drake, Dominik Hasek, Steve Yzerman

Nashville Predators

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Radek Bonk (was with Montreal) and D Greg de Vries (was with Atlanta). Signed F Martin Gelinas (was with Florida) .
Starting goalie: Chris Mason
Summary of last year: Hard to believe now the Preds finished third overall and had their best season yet. Many point to the acquisition of Peter Forsberg (which cost the Preds Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent) as the turning point. Forsberg struggled, the team struggled, and their playoff run was cut to a mere 5 games. The off-season sale drama has done little to improve the team’s fortunes.
Prediction for this year:In a word — ouch. The list of players missing from this year’s roster is intimidating — Scott Hartnell, Paul Kariya, Tomas Vokoun, Kimmo Timonen all stand out. The players brought in don’t come close to replacing that talent, and the Preds have an extremely tough road ahead of them if they plan to equal last year’s performance. David Legwand, JP Dumont and Steve Sullivan (when he gets healthy) all need to practically double their output just to keep the Predators in the playoffs.

Nashville Predators, Radek Bonk, Greg de Vries, Martin Gelinas, Chris Mason, Peter Forsberg, Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, Scott Hartnell, Paul Kariya, Tomas Vokoun, Kimmo Timonen, David Legwand, JP Dumont, Steve Sullivan

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

Vancouver Canucks

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Brad Isbister.
Starting goalie:Roberto Luongo
Summary of last year: What a difference the right goalie makes. The acquisition of Luongo brought the Canucks from missing the playoffs in 2005-2006 to finishing 1st in their division last season. They capped that by making it to the second round of the playoffs.
Prediction for this year: So far the hockey Gods are not smiling on Vancouver. After just one intrasquad game, Canucks fans got to hear about not one, not even two, but three injuries to key players. Luongo seems to have recovered from a scary puck to the neck, Trevor Linden’s groin pull is not serious, but Sami Salo’s broken wrist will take him out of the lineup for a month, minimum. One can either look at this as a positive (”Hey, we got the injuries out of the way early!”) or as an omen (”If we can’t make it out of camp with a full lineup, how can we play a whole season?”). It does seem to be prophetic for the Canucks — if they can’t stay healthy, this isn’t going to be much of a season, especially in a division as difficult as the Northwest. If they remain off the IR, they will make a lot of noise in west.

Vancouver Canucks, Brad Isbister, Roberto Luongo, Trevor Linden, Sami Salo

Minnesota Wild

Notable moves and changes:Signed F Eric Belanger (was with Atlanta/Carolina) and G Nolan Schaefer.
Starting goalie: Niklas Backstrom.
Summary of last year: When Manny Fernandez was injured, no one had any idea Niklas Backstrom would be able to fill in the way he did — by leading the league in both save percentage and GAA. Even head-coach Jacques Lemaire had to be thrilled with that kind of defense.
Prediction for this year:The Wild didn’t need to do too much on the off-season, expect pray their come-outta-nowhere goaltender
Niklas Backstrom isn’t a one-hit wonder, since Fernandez now resides in Massachusetts. In front of Backstrom is a solid, if not spectacular, roster, leaning a little to the young side, and that can only help the Wild in the long run.

Minnesota Wild, Eric Belanger, Nolan Schaefer, Niklas Backstrom, Manny Fernandez, Jacques Lemaire

Calgary Flames

Notable moves and changes:Hired head coach Mike Keenan. Acquired D Adrian Aucion from the Chicago Blackhawks for D Andrei Zyuzin and Steve Marr. Signed D Cory Sarich (was with Tampa). Signed F Owen Nolan (was with Phoenix).
Starting goalie: Hopefully Miikka Kiprusoff, but with Mike Keenan behind the bench….
Summary of last year: What is there to say about a team that ranks 3rd in the NHL in home wins and 22nd in road wins? This frustration dogged the Flames their entire season, and carried over into a lackluster playoff run. Don’t even suggest where the Flames would have been without Kipper.
Prediction for this year:The off-season moves served only to replace key departed players, most notably Brad Stuart and Roman Hamrlik. Kipper will continue to be the key to all things defense with the Flames. Up front, the Flames are nicely set with talent like Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay and Daymond Langkow. Keenan is the real mystery for the Flames. There’s no middle ground here — Keenan either takes the Flames on a ride rivaling their 2004 playoff run, or in a spectacular flame-out, takes them out of the playoffs and into rebuilding.

Calgary Flames, Mike Keenan, Adrian Aucion, Andrei Zyuzin, Cory Sarich, Owen Nolan, Miikka Kiprusoff, Brad Stuart, Roman Hamrlik, Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay, Daymond Langkow

Colorado Avalanche

Notable moves and changes: Signed F Ryan Smyth (was with the NY Islanders). Signed D Scott Hannan (was with San Jose).
Starting goalie: Jose Theodore would need a pretty good camp to steal the starting job from Peter Budaj.
Summary of last year: Colorado has the unenviable honor of being the team with the highest regular season points to not make the playoffs, thanks to a tough division and conference. Though they finished higher than the playoff bound Islanders, Rangers and Lightning, the Avs’ inability to catch up with Calgary in the dying days of last season had them watching from the sidelines.
Prediction for this year: What a difference a year will make. With the glowing additions of Smyth and Hannan, the Avs’ 2006-2007 season will likely be a blip rather than part of a downward slide. Of course, they’re still in a hot division, with the Canucks, Flames and Wild all surging, and you know the Oilers are going to be on fire when playing former teammate Smyth (by now everyone west of Detroit has the first Avs’ game in Edmonton circled on their calendar), but Colorado is just too talented to stay down for long. Caveat: Goaltending. A bad start by either goalie could nullify everything else.

Colorado Avalanche, Ryan Smyth, Scott Hannan, Jose Theodore, Peter Budaj

St Louis Blues

Notable moves and changes:Resigned C Keith Tkachuk, after re-acquiring his rights from Atlanta (Blues had dealt Tkachuk to the Thrashers at the trade deadline). Signed F Paul Kariya (had been with Nashville). Acquired G Hannu Toivonen from Boston for Carl Soderberg.
Starting goalie: Manny Legace
Summary of last year: Baby steps. After an embarrassing 2005-2006 effort, there was little doubt last season was going to be spent rebuilding. This resulted in the addition of coach Andy Murray and a 24 point jump in the standings.
Prediction for this year: Landing Kariya was no small feat, and boosted this club’s fortunes considerably. With Doug Weight and Tkachuk on the roster, the Blues have some veteran talent (my personal opinion of Keith Tkachuk notwithstanding), albeit a little too veteran for some. Lee Stempniak is only going to get better. The defence corps is a little young, but loaded with talent in Eric Brewer, and up and comers like Barret Jackman and newcomer Erik Johnson — defense is far from the Blues’ biggest problem. The Blues will still have a tough time making the playoffs in the Western Conference, but they’ll be in the fight come April.

St Louis Blues, Keith Tkachuk, Paul Kariya, Hannu Toivonen, Carl Soderberg, Manny Legace, Andy Murray, Doug Weight, Lee Stempniak, Eric Brewer, Barret Jackman, Erik Johnson

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