Moved

Friday, September 29, 2006

It's never too early to hand out awards...

As we head into the final countdown before NHL Opening Night next week, it's time to log those all-important predictions before the first puck drops. Yesterday I posted my calls for divisional winners, so now it's time for the regular season awards:

Presidents' Trophy (Best Overall Record ): In a close one, I'll go with the Carolina Hurricanes here - more due to the weakness of their division than anything else.

Art Ross Trophy (Top Point Scorer): Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers

Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Frank J. Selke Trophy (Top Defensive Forward): Kris Draper, Detroit Red Wings

Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player): Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks

Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year): Jim Playfair, Calgary Flames

James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman): Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks

Maurice Richard Trophy (Top Goal Scorer): Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers

Vezina Trophy (Top Goalie): Tomas Vokoun, Nashville Predators

William M. Jennings Trophy (Goalie(s) With the Fewest Goals Scored Against): Dominik Hasek & Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings

That's it for now, next up will be the playoff predictions. And a word of advice - be sure to enjoy your spouse and family this weekend, as it's the last NHL-free weekend they'll have until some bearded, toothless warrior raises the Cup in triumph next June.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Time to break out the Magic 8-Ball...

We're less than a week away from Opening Night of the 2006-7 NHL Regular Season, so it's time to start laying some predictions out there. Today's dose - your division winners:

Atlantic: I'll take the New York Rangers in
a typically tight race. They've made some nice additions, and if Henrik Lundqvist can avoid a sophomore slump, the Rangers should fare well.

Northeast: This division is a bit of a mess, as Ottawa and Buffalo have each lost key components from last season. Boston and Montreal have some encouraging new faces, but plenty of holes yet to fill. Toronto is a bit of a basket case, so not much different there. In the end, I'll go with the Ottawa Senators to repeat, based on their superior offensive production, which over the course of a regular season should gain them consistent points.

Southeast: I keep waiting for the Thrashers to make that great step forward, but until their defense steps up, it's just not going to happen. Signing Vitaly Vishnevski was a positive, but I like the Carolina Hurricanes to take this division again.

Central: The times, they are a changin' in the Central. I'm going to stick my neck out and say that the Nashville Predators will take the division over Detroit, ending a run of five straight division titles for the Red Wings. Nashville has (for them) unprecedented offensive depth this year, and elite goaltender Tomas Vokoun has a clean bill of health after an unusual blod clot condition that popped up last spring.

Northwest: This one should belong to the Calgary Flames in a relative cakewalk - their elite defensive numbers will now be nicely balanced by the acquisition of Alex Tanguay, who is just entering the prime of his career.

Pacific: This may well be the toughest division of all, with Dallas, San Jose, and Anaheim all potentially contending for Western Conference supremacy. In a tight three-horse race, I'll take the Anaheim Ducks to win it. Dallas is going to miss Jason Arnott, and San Jose has to prove that last year's remarkable stretch run can carry over to a new season.

Next up - the individual awards...

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Get your draft on...

Hear ye, hear ye, come all ye loyal and true hockey fans to what has got to be the oldest hockey pool on the net, Gilles Carmel's Usenet/WWW Hockey Draft. It's a wonderfully simple setup that is now in its 19th year, attracting participants from around the globe.

Hop over and draft your team, already!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Technorati claim

Technorati Profile

Monday, September 18, 2006

"C" ain't for Crosby, that's good enough for me...

They say that sometimes the best trades are the ones that don't get made, and to stretch that a bit, I'd say the Pittsburgh Penguins just named the best possible captain for the upcoming season.

The Penguins should be better than last year certainly, but they are still not playoff-caliber, and naming Sidney Crosby as captain right now, as so many fans desire, would needlessly add to the pressure surrounding him heading into the new season. Countless rookie sensations go through a sophomore slump, so let Sid the Kid continue his on-ice development without having the added distraction of locker room leadership and taking the brunt of the media relations.

Remember, Crosby just turned 19: Steve Yzerman was 21 when he was named captain of the Red Wings, while Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky were 22 when they donned the "C" in Pittsburgh and Edmonton respectively. There will be plenty of time in the years ahead for Sid to create his legacy as captain of the Penguins. But for now, his main focus needs to be on taking the next step forward in his career. Repeating his 102-point performance against opponents that are now familiar with his talents will be achievement enough for the time being.

Friday, September 15, 2006

A day late and a ruble short

In a classic example of closing the barn door long after the horse has bolted, the Russian Hockey Federation has banned Evgeni Malkin from playing for any other team than Metallurg Magnitogorsk, which he abandoned in Finland a few weeks ago. Other than disqualifying him from playing on Russian national teams, it's unclear what possible effect this could have on his near-term future with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Based on recent history, I would think Malkin has more to worry about from unofficial Russian organizations than the RHF.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

If you see a nail, find a Hammer

In light of Bobby Clarke igniting the Offer Sheet War amongst NHL general managers, I'd like to highlight a potential target for another such deal: Dan Hamhuis of the Nashville Predators. Hamhuis is a solid defenseman entering his third NHL season. In 162 games, he's racked up 14 goals and 50 assists, and finished with a respectable +11 plus/minus rating last season. With the departure of veterans Brendan Witt and Danny Markov, "Hammer" is expected to play a major role on what many expect to be a Stanley Cup-contending team. According to The Tennessean, he made $900,000 last year and is looking for a significant raise, but his agent and the Predators remain far apart in negotiations.

So who'd be interested in a 23 year old, talented two-way blueliner who logged over 22 minutes a game last season? You'd think teams would be stumbling over each other to make an offer. But let's take a look at some of the obvious candidates:

Edmonton Oilers: They lost Chris Pronger, and have plenty of cap room. After last spring's playoff run, they should have plenty of dough to throw into this. With today's salary cap and the growing strength of the Canadian dollar vs. the American greenback, Edmonton can't cry poor anymore.

Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets: These two teams aspire to their first playoff appearance, and depth on the blueline is lacking on both squads.

Carolina Hurricanes: With Frantisek Kaberle on the shelf, they need some help.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Somebody's got to play defense so Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can zoom up and down the ice, afterall.

New York Islanders: Something along the lines of a 20-year, $73.5 million offer should do the trick, right?

Come on, NHL GM's. This is some low-hanging fruit right here. It's absurd that a young defenseman of this quality hasn't gotten interest from any other teams. Surely, anything over the $2 million/year mark will make Nashville nervous, and for Columbus in particular, they have a chance to better themselves and wound a division rival in the process. Let's see some action!

Somebody get him a tie and clipboard...

Help me understand something here. The Vancouver Canucks resigned Trevor Linden today, for a very modest salary of $600,000 plus potential bonuses of another $200,000. The Canucks statement contains the usual blurbs about their excitement at bringing back such a critical part of their team.

But really, has there been a more consistently overrated player in the last 10 years than this guy? His first 8 years in the league, he looked like the consummate power forward, and was a huge part of the Canucks' run to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. But since a knee injury in 1996-97, his productivity fell off a cliff; he hasn't scored 20 goals in a season since that time, and has usually been on the negative side of the +/- rating. Sure, he still walks and talks like a top caliber player (and served for a long time as NHLPA President), but shouldn't he behind a bench somewhere by now?

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

BJ's "Get Carter"

Very interesting news out of Columbus this afternoon, where the Blue Jackets have reportedly signed Anson Carter to a one-year deal for $2.5 million. Columbus wasn't generally discussed as a possible destination for the former Canuck, and whether they are able to resolve the Nikolai Zherdev situation or not, this is a nice addition to a team aspiring to its first playoff berth.

It's strange to see a 30-goal scoring forward in his prime get only a $2.5 million deal, when you see players like J.P. Dumont or Mike York in comparison. But the player market is a dynamic one, and at this point, there were few bidders left for Carter's services. You have to wonder if Vancouver was taken out of the running by their decision to retain Ryan Kesler, and once that happened, Carter saw his stock declining further. Either way, it's a nice pickup for Columbus, which should put them solidly in the middle of the Central division behind Detroit and Nashville, but well ahead of Chicago and St. Louis.

Bobby Clarke, have you been reading this blog?

Normally I'm not a big fan of Flyers GM Bobby Clarke, but over the last couple days he has breathed life into a long-dead aspect of the NHL player market: restricted free agency (RFA). Back in July I mused as to whether GM's would leverage RFA to competitive purposes, and at long last, Clarke yesterday extended a $1.9 million, 1 year offer sheet to Ryan Kesler, a young centerman with Vancouver who scored all of 10 goals last season in 82 games. The salary is more than twice what Kesler was rumored to get from Vancouver in a new contract, so clearly Clarke was intent on putting some pressure on the Canucks to either let the Flyers have him, or soak up some valuable cap space by overpaying the youngster. With Anson Carter still available, that reduces Vancouver's ability to sign both Kesler and Carter - and Clarke would be interested in having one, if not both, in orange & black this fall.

This marks the first time an RFA has had an offer made to them since 1999, which means that at the very least GM's have an unwritten rule not to go shopping for another team's young players. Clarke's move yesterday seems to have been greeted by his colleagues as more egregious than asking for a return of the Glowing Puck. From the TSN article linked above:

''I thought the DiPietro deal was the height of stupidity but this Kesler deal tops it,'' said one NHL GM. ''Does Clarkie actually think Vancouver isn't going to match? Every team will match. You have to. You have to protect your assets no matter what. All this is going to do is drive up the cost to do business. This is going to be ridiculously inflationary, even in the cap system we have. It's crazy.''

That quote, in a nutshell, describes exactly why the league ran itself into the financial ground in recent years. Saying things like, "you have to protect your assets no matter what" belies a serious misunderstanding of how markets work, particularly in the modern salary cap era. You don't have to protect your assets - if another team comes along with an outrageous bid, let the guy go and put that money to better use. If the Canucks can't replace Kesler with a player making less than $1.9 million, then that's their own fault as an organization. In a world where NHL rosters have a fixed salary cap, there is still an area for competition at the minor-league level. The ability to develop a depth of young talent available to restock various aspects of the team is essential to the modern NHL team, and it's been overlooked by some of them so far.

Plus, you have to love Clarke's reply to his critics on this. Perhaps he'll forward my blog link to the other GM's around the league, as he also comments, "To be honest, I'm surprised more teams aren't doing it.”

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Those wacky, wacky, Islanders...

If figures that a day after I post a question about who made the worst off-season move this summer, the New York Islanders stun the hockey world with a mind boggling 15 year contract with goaltender Rick DiPietro. This move is dumb on so many levels, it's hard to know where to start:

1) The Islanders have been hamstrung for years by the 10-year deal they gave Alexei Yashin in 2001. Now they want to lock up a goalie for 15 years?

2) By locking in 15 years of salary, both sides of the deal have taken tremendous risks. If DiPietro isn't one of the better goalies in the game, then the Islanders will overpay for years on end. If salaries around the league appreciate at a decent rate, then within a few years DiPietro will be one of the lower-paid starters around the league, whether he wins a few Vezinas or not.

3) This decision appears to have been made by a committee of front office staff, led by owner Charles Wang. This is always a bad sign for a franchise, let alone newly-minted GM Garth Snow. From the ESPN article:

Wang's direct involvement in these negotiations fell into line with the owner's new front office by committee.

It was this type of management structure that led to the firing of Neil Smith, who was let go just weeks after he took the job in the offseason and months before the Islanders were to play a game under him.

Smith balked at the delegation of authority and the system initiated by Wang and was replaced by Snow -- who retired from his playing career with the Islanders -- on July 18.

It's hard to believe that management on Long Island could have gotten worse with the semi-departure of Mike Milbury, but these amazing Islanders just never seem to disappoint. I hereby declare Garth Snow of the New York Islanders the runaway winner of the 2006 Offseason Least-Valuable GM Award...

Monday, September 11, 2006

So who crushed your dreams?

Forget all the talk about which teams have made the offseason moves that put them in place for contention this year, and let's focus on the opposite end of the spectrum for a while. 10 years from now, which team's fans are going to look back at this summer and say, "yup, that's when they pretty much killed our chances..."

After all, for the diehard fan, the terrible trades and signings are every bit as memorable as the great ones. What Red Wings fan can ever forgive the Adam Oates for Bernie Federko deal? Canuck fans can trace their woes back to the housecleaning trades of early 1998, when Vancouver swept Martin Gelinas, Kirk McLean and Mike Sillinger out of the locker room for basically scraps. Certainly last season's winner in this category had to be the Boston Bruins, for giving up on Joe Thornton and then watching him lead the league in scoring.

So who left a turd in the punchbowl for their fans this summer? The nominees are...

1. Mike Keenan may have left the Florida Panthers building, but the effects of the Roberto Luongo deal will last for quite a while. One of the top young goalies in the game was dealt for a troubled power forward who may be ill-suited to the New NHL, a raw defenseman, and a middling young netminder who has yet to prove himself. Ugh.

2. In these days of salary cap management, sometimes talent is a secondary concern when making a deal. Nonetheless, methinks Colorado Avalanche GM Francois Giguere will dread sending Alex Tanguay to a division rival for years to come.

3. The Chicago Blackhawks are perennial contenders in this category, and their entry this year is GM Dave Tallon's deal that sent their leading scorer from last season, Kyle Calder, to Philadelphia for C Michael Handzus. Handzus is a good role player for a contending team, but the Blackhawks are a long ways from that.

4. The Detroit Red Wings may well regret signing free agent Dominik Hasek and letting Manny Legace walk away to St. Louis. Hasek is 41, flip-flops on whether he wants to play or retire, and has had injury troubles, playing only 57 games in the last three seasons. Legace came into his own as a starting goaltender last year, and while he hasn't tasted playoff success yet, that can always change. Just look at Dwayne Roloson...

5. Edmonton Oiler fans barely had time to enjoy their team's run to the Stanley Cup finals before watching the roster get torn apart by trades and free agency. Chris Pronger, Michael Peca, and Sergei Samsonov all headed for greener pastures, and while the Oilers got some young players and draft picks in return, I'm afraid it'll be a few more years before we see much noise coming out of GM Craig MacTavish's squad.

So who's going the 2006 Offseason Least-Valuable GM award? Only time will tell.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Don't Cry For Me, British Columbia...

Normally, when a top player leaves his team, whether by trade or free agency, those left behind offer the usual somber platitudes that "he can't be replaced," or that "we all have to step up" to make up for their dearly departed comrade.

Not so for Vancouver Canucks center Brendan Morrison...

In this interview with a local paper, Morrison basically said the loss of Todd Bertuzzi could result in increased production for himself, since "when you play with those guys (meaning Bertuzzi and Marcus Naslund), the tendency is just to get them the puck."

I don't know, Brendan, but I'm guessing that Bertuzzi's physical presence helped open up plenty of scoring chances for you as well, and opposing defenses will be able to direct more attention your way now that he's playing on the opposite corner of the continent.

Bloggers on the March

I wanted to draw your attention to an excellent piece over at Off Wing Opinion that proposes some guidelines for NHL teams to use in issuing press passes to bloggers. Hopefully some best practices can be put in place across the league, which ultimately will help both the NHL and its fans benefit from this still-developing medium.

Back in 1997, I wrote columns for one of the early online hockey magazines, which was then called In the Crease. We were fortunate enough to have an editor with connections to the league through a player on the Colorado Avalanche, and I was able to score press passes to cover three fantastic games: Red Wings vs. Avalanche on March 26, 1997 (better known as the Brawl in Hockeytown), and Games 1 & 2 of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals. At the time, I was the beneficiary of good relationships and connections that got my foot in the door, and the Red Wings treated me with the utmost professionalism. What's occuring now is the realization that the online world is too dynamic to rely upon the old methods of gaining access to the league and its players, and this is a much-needed step forward to building a new channel we can use to tell the world about the Coolest Game on Earth.

For another blogger's take on this issue, check The Ice Block...

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Mark Bell Makes An Impact

The San Jose Sharks were certainly looking for some wicked hits when they acquired Mark Bell from the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this summer, but I don't think this is what they had in mind.

In a nutshell, Bell was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and hit-and-run after a wreck on Monday. Apparently he was found by police "less than half a mile away" from the accident scene, and cooperated with officers.