Cross Checks: Montreal Canadiens
An update on the coaching search for the Montreal Canadiens before I head back out on the road Monday for the Stanley Cup finals.
The sense I get is that the Habs aren’t terribly far from making their decision, my guess is sometime within the next week or two.
The candidates I continuously hear mentioned include Michel Therrien, Marc Crawford and Bob Hartley -- all three have interviewed.
Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy are other names that have percolated -- I think the Habs have met with both, as well -- but I’m not sure at this point how serious they are as contenders. You never know on the Roy front, but personally I would view it as a risk for a rookie GM (Marc Bergevin) to hire a rookie coach. I could be wrong, but that’s my own opinion.
Alain Vigneault would have been a serious contender for the Habs job had the Canucks decided to let him go. But that’s a moot point now with Vancouver wisely signing him to an extension.
Hartley’s situation is complicated because he is under contract to coach in Switzerland and it’s not clear whether or not he’d be able to get out to come back and coach in the NHL.
Crawford is bilingual in French and English from his days with the Quebec Nordiques. That certainly works to his favor, as does his relationship with Bergevin, who he coached in Vancouver.
Therrien, of course, is a former Habs coach but that was a decade ago and I personally don't think that should work against him. At least I wouldn’t hold it against him. Therrien’s career has grown since then, including coaching a young Pittsburgh team to within two wins of a Stanley Cup championship.
Also, I would expect the Canadiens to soon announce the hiring of executive Rick Dudley from Toronto. My sense is that will be announced before the coaching hire.
UPDATE 11:05 a.m. ET
The Canadiens announced Friday they hired Rick Dudley as their assistant general manager.
The sense I get is that the Habs aren’t terribly far from making their decision, my guess is sometime within the next week or two.
The candidates I continuously hear mentioned include Michel Therrien, Marc Crawford and Bob Hartley -- all three have interviewed.
Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy are other names that have percolated -- I think the Habs have met with both, as well -- but I’m not sure at this point how serious they are as contenders. You never know on the Roy front, but personally I would view it as a risk for a rookie GM (Marc Bergevin) to hire a rookie coach. I could be wrong, but that’s my own opinion.
Alain Vigneault would have been a serious contender for the Habs job had the Canucks decided to let him go. But that’s a moot point now with Vancouver wisely signing him to an extension.
Hartley’s situation is complicated because he is under contract to coach in Switzerland and it’s not clear whether or not he’d be able to get out to come back and coach in the NHL.
Crawford is bilingual in French and English from his days with the Quebec Nordiques. That certainly works to his favor, as does his relationship with Bergevin, who he coached in Vancouver.
Therrien, of course, is a former Habs coach but that was a decade ago and I personally don't think that should work against him. At least I wouldn’t hold it against him. Therrien’s career has grown since then, including coaching a young Pittsburgh team to within two wins of a Stanley Cup championship.
Also, I would expect the Canadiens to soon announce the hiring of executive Rick Dudley from Toronto. My sense is that will be announced before the coaching hire.
UPDATE 11:05 a.m. ET
The Canadiens announced Friday they hired Rick Dudley as their assistant general manager.
New Habs GM Marc Bergevin, not surprisingly, wants to bring his old Blackhawks colleague Rick Dudley with him to Montreal and is in discussions with the Toronto Maple Leafs to do just that.
Dudley is director of player personnel for the Leafs. Montreal wants to make him its new assistant GM. Toronto GM Brian Burke is talking to Bergevin about how to proceed.
"Working through it," Burke told ESPN.com via email Sunday.
According to my TSN colleague Darren Dreger, who first reported the story Sunday morning, Dudley has an out clause in his deal but his transfer to Montreal is complicated by the fact both the Canadiens and Leafs have high picks in the June draft and Dudley has done the prep work on it for Toronto.
No doubt the Leafs would prefer to have Dudley wait until after the draft to join Montreal.
If and when the hiring goes through, it’s an excellent hire by the Canadiens. Dudley is one of the most respected talent evaluators in the league and was a key contributor to building Chicago’s 2010 Cup champion roster.
Dudley is director of player personnel for the Leafs. Montreal wants to make him its new assistant GM. Toronto GM Brian Burke is talking to Bergevin about how to proceed.
"Working through it," Burke told ESPN.com via email Sunday.
According to my TSN colleague Darren Dreger, who first reported the story Sunday morning, Dudley has an out clause in his deal but his transfer to Montreal is complicated by the fact both the Canadiens and Leafs have high picks in the June draft and Dudley has done the prep work on it for Toronto.
No doubt the Leafs would prefer to have Dudley wait until after the draft to join Montreal.
If and when the hiring goes through, it’s an excellent hire by the Canadiens. Dudley is one of the most respected talent evaluators in the league and was a key contributor to building Chicago’s 2010 Cup champion roster.
Marc Bergevin can arrest Habs' cultural slide
May, 2, 2012
May 2
11:17
AM ET
By
Scott Burnside | ESPN.com
When Marc Bergevin, the new GM of the Montreal Canadiens, retired from hockey, he called his old pal Dale Tallon and told him that he was making a list of guys he would like to work for in an off-ice role.
“And he said, guess what, you made the list,” Tallon recalled with a laugh Wednesday morning shortly after Bergevin’s hiring had been made official.
“Right away I said, OK, I’ve got to hire this guy,” the Florida Panthers GM said.
At the time, Tallon was with Chicago and Bergevin, a former Blackhawks player, explained that he’d had to work his tail off for every one of his 1,191 regular-season games and he’d do the same in whatever job he got after hanging up the skates.
“He was one of the first guys I hired. He’s just a wonderful guy,” Tallon said, adding that Bergevin didn't have to sell him on his qualifications.
Let’s be honest: When an NHL GM is hired without having had the benefit of being a GM somewhere else -- as is the case with the Bergevin hiring -- there is a certain amount of guesswork when it comes to assessing whether or not the move will pay dividends.
What we know of Bergevin, 46, who bested candidates including Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois and broadcast analyst Pierre McGuire, is that he knows the game and has ascended through the ranks with the Chicago Blackhawks. He played in more than a 1,000 NHL games, establishing himself as a hard-checking defenseman. He started as a pro scout with the Hawks and then acted briefly as an assistant coach to Chicago coach Joel Quenneville before becoming director of player personnel and then later assistant GM to Stan Bowman. He was with the Blackhawks when they won the Stanley Cup in 2010.
Will he be a good GM for a team that finds itself in more than a little salary-cap distress, thanks to the work of previous GM Pierre Gauthier, who was fired before the end of the regular season?
Maybe. Maybe not.
No one takes over managing a team because the previous guy left it ready to start planning a Stanley Cup parade. Or at least rarely does that happen, and this is certainly not one of those situations.
But being the GM of the Canadiens is different than almost every other posting in sport. Yes, there are contracts and drafting models and free agents to consider, but the story of the Canadiens, especially as they exist now, is bigger, more complex. And in that regard, Bergevin seems well-suited for what will certainly be a difficult task.
Not only did the team flounder under Gauthier, missing the playoffs this season after being bounced in the first round last spring, but it also displayed an uncharacteristic lack of class.
Gauthier fired assistant coach Perry Pearn during the season when the Canadiens started to slide in a move that seemed small-minded. Then Gauthier fired coach Jacques Martin, installing assistant Randy Cunneyworth as interim coach. Then the team took a knee when critics complained that Cunneyworth could not speak French. There was a tepid, embarrassing apology from the team, which made the Habs look weak and ill-prepared.
Gauthier, aloof and disdainful of the media, was also the architect of a culture of secrecy that permeated the organization.
While many GMs see part of their job descriptions as imparting information about their teams to the media and thus to the fans who buy tickets every night, Gauthier would go long periods without speaking with the media.
Part of the task for owner Geoff Molson in rebuilding the team’s front office and coaching staff has been in finding someone who will provide a stark alternative to Gauthier.
He appears to have found that in Bergevin.
Outgoing and gregarious, Bergevin was known as one of the league’s great practical jokers as a player. We’re not expecting he’s going to introduce whoopee cushions at press events, but we also suspect having spoken to former colleagues that he will create a more open atmosphere within one of the league’s signature teams.
Longtime NHL netminder Glenn Healy played with Bergevin on Long Island and said Wednesday there has been a disconnect between the Habs' management and the rest of the team and its fan base. Bergevin will help reconnect those parts, Healy said. He must. If he follows in the same path that Gauthier established, which pitted the media against management, then Molson will have failed in one of his important tasks in trying to restore the team’s standing as a marquee franchise.
Tallon certainly feels Bergevin possesses all the qualities that will make him a success in Montreal, including being able to communicate.
“I think it’s very important not just in Montreal but everywhere. It’s hockey, it’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be entertainment,” Tallon said. “Bergy’s got the right personality for that."
Sadly for Canadiens fans, there haven’t been many fun days in Montreal the past couple of years.
Still, Tallon believes Bergevin’s personality won’t just make him popular but successful as well.
“He never has a bad day,” Tallon said. “He loves people and people love him. He gets a lot of information. People volunteer information to him.”
Healy agrees, saying that Bergevin’s connection to the game, how players play and think, will put him in good stead.
The second and ultimately more important decision that now awaits the team is what to do about the head coaching job.
Here’s hoping that the choice will be Bergevin’s and that he will not be force-fed a new coach.
With the Phoenix Coyotes looking more and more like they are going to be staying in Phoenix -- a source told ESPN.com this week that a deal to keep the team in Arizona could be done in a matter of days, although that is a familiar refrain -- and not relocating to Quebec, there will be more and more discussion about whether Patrick Roy will become the next coach of the Canadiens.
The question of whether Roy, a Hall of Fame netminder who remains an iconic figure in Quebec, would be a good NHL coach is unanswerable at this point. He has had success at the major junior level, where he is part owner, GM and coach of the Quebec Remparts in his hometown of Quebec City. But we’ve seen Brent Sutter fail to translate junior hockey success into NHL head-coaching success. It has taken Pete DeBoer, now in New Jersey, time to find his groove. Dale Hunter struggled early on in Washington, although he has the Caps playing well this spring.
If Bergevin believes that Roy is the best man for the job, then here’s hoping he hires him. If not, here’s hoping the Canadiens understand the importance of not just hiring the right man but in letting him do the job as he sees fit.
“And he said, guess what, you made the list,” Tallon recalled with a laugh Wednesday morning shortly after Bergevin’s hiring had been made official.
“Right away I said, OK, I’ve got to hire this guy,” the Florida Panthers GM said.
At the time, Tallon was with Chicago and Bergevin, a former Blackhawks player, explained that he’d had to work his tail off for every one of his 1,191 regular-season games and he’d do the same in whatever job he got after hanging up the skates.
“He was one of the first guys I hired. He’s just a wonderful guy,” Tallon said, adding that Bergevin didn't have to sell him on his qualifications.
Let’s be honest: When an NHL GM is hired without having had the benefit of being a GM somewhere else -- as is the case with the Bergevin hiring -- there is a certain amount of guesswork when it comes to assessing whether or not the move will pay dividends.
What we know of Bergevin, 46, who bested candidates including Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois and broadcast analyst Pierre McGuire, is that he knows the game and has ascended through the ranks with the Chicago Blackhawks. He played in more than a 1,000 NHL games, establishing himself as a hard-checking defenseman. He started as a pro scout with the Hawks and then acted briefly as an assistant coach to Chicago coach Joel Quenneville before becoming director of player personnel and then later assistant GM to Stan Bowman. He was with the Blackhawks when they won the Stanley Cup in 2010.
Will he be a good GM for a team that finds itself in more than a little salary-cap distress, thanks to the work of previous GM Pierre Gauthier, who was fired before the end of the regular season?
Maybe. Maybe not.
No one takes over managing a team because the previous guy left it ready to start planning a Stanley Cup parade. Or at least rarely does that happen, and this is certainly not one of those situations.
But being the GM of the Canadiens is different than almost every other posting in sport. Yes, there are contracts and drafting models and free agents to consider, but the story of the Canadiens, especially as they exist now, is bigger, more complex. And in that regard, Bergevin seems well-suited for what will certainly be a difficult task.
Not only did the team flounder under Gauthier, missing the playoffs this season after being bounced in the first round last spring, but it also displayed an uncharacteristic lack of class.
Gauthier fired assistant coach Perry Pearn during the season when the Canadiens started to slide in a move that seemed small-minded. Then Gauthier fired coach Jacques Martin, installing assistant Randy Cunneyworth as interim coach. Then the team took a knee when critics complained that Cunneyworth could not speak French. There was a tepid, embarrassing apology from the team, which made the Habs look weak and ill-prepared.
Gauthier, aloof and disdainful of the media, was also the architect of a culture of secrecy that permeated the organization.
While many GMs see part of their job descriptions as imparting information about their teams to the media and thus to the fans who buy tickets every night, Gauthier would go long periods without speaking with the media.
Part of the task for owner Geoff Molson in rebuilding the team’s front office and coaching staff has been in finding someone who will provide a stark alternative to Gauthier.
He appears to have found that in Bergevin.
Outgoing and gregarious, Bergevin was known as one of the league’s great practical jokers as a player. We’re not expecting he’s going to introduce whoopee cushions at press events, but we also suspect having spoken to former colleagues that he will create a more open atmosphere within one of the league’s signature teams.
Longtime NHL netminder Glenn Healy played with Bergevin on Long Island and said Wednesday there has been a disconnect between the Habs' management and the rest of the team and its fan base. Bergevin will help reconnect those parts, Healy said. He must. If he follows in the same path that Gauthier established, which pitted the media against management, then Molson will have failed in one of his important tasks in trying to restore the team’s standing as a marquee franchise.
Tallon certainly feels Bergevin possesses all the qualities that will make him a success in Montreal, including being able to communicate.
“I think it’s very important not just in Montreal but everywhere. It’s hockey, it’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be entertainment,” Tallon said. “Bergy’s got the right personality for that."
Sadly for Canadiens fans, there haven’t been many fun days in Montreal the past couple of years.
Still, Tallon believes Bergevin’s personality won’t just make him popular but successful as well.
“He never has a bad day,” Tallon said. “He loves people and people love him. He gets a lot of information. People volunteer information to him.”
Healy agrees, saying that Bergevin’s connection to the game, how players play and think, will put him in good stead.
The second and ultimately more important decision that now awaits the team is what to do about the head coaching job.
Here’s hoping that the choice will be Bergevin’s and that he will not be force-fed a new coach.
With the Phoenix Coyotes looking more and more like they are going to be staying in Phoenix -- a source told ESPN.com this week that a deal to keep the team in Arizona could be done in a matter of days, although that is a familiar refrain -- and not relocating to Quebec, there will be more and more discussion about whether Patrick Roy will become the next coach of the Canadiens.
The question of whether Roy, a Hall of Fame netminder who remains an iconic figure in Quebec, would be a good NHL coach is unanswerable at this point. He has had success at the major junior level, where he is part owner, GM and coach of the Quebec Remparts in his hometown of Quebec City. But we’ve seen Brent Sutter fail to translate junior hockey success into NHL head-coaching success. It has taken Pete DeBoer, now in New Jersey, time to find his groove. Dale Hunter struggled early on in Washington, although he has the Caps playing well this spring.
If Bergevin believes that Roy is the best man for the job, then here’s hoping he hires him. If not, here’s hoping the Canadiens understand the importance of not just hiring the right man but in letting him do the job as he sees fit.
From the official NHL release:
ALFREDSSON, LUPUL AND PACIORETTY NAMED MASTERTON TROPHY FINALISTS
NEW YORK (April 24, 2012) -- Right wing Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators, left wing Joffrey Lupul of the Toronto Maple Leafs and left wing Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens are the three finalists for the 2011-12 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” the National Hockey League announced today.
A $2,500 grant from the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association
(PHWA) is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.
The local chapters of the PHWA submitted nominations for the Masterton Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were designated as finalists. The winner will be announced Wednesday, June 20, during the 2012 NHL Awards from Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. The 2012 NHL Awards will be broadcast by NBC Sports Network in the United States and CBC in Canada.
Following are the finalists for the Masterton Trophy, in alphabetical
order:
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
The NHL's longest-serving captain (1999-2000), Alfredsson returned from off-season back surgery for his 16th NHL campaign and was a key contributor to the Senators' successful Stanley Cup Playoff drive.
Alfredsson was the leading vote-getter among NHL forwards in All-Star balloting, selected by his peers as an All-Star captain and the recipient of a thunderous standing ovation from hometown fans at Scotiabank Place following his two-goal outburst against Team Chara. Alfredsson finished the season with 59 points -- 27 goals, including the 400th regular-season goal of his career, and 32 assists.
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs
Returning to health after his career had been threatened in 2010 by two back surgeries and a blood infection, Lupul earned a spot on the Maple Leafs' top line and enjoyed the most productive season of his eight-year NHL career. Teaming with wing Phil Kessel to form the highest-scoring duo in the NHL, Lupul did not go more than one game without a point until January and was selected as assistant captain for Team Chara at the NHL All-Star Game. He notched a career-high 67 points in 66 games before a shoulder injury ended his season in early March.
Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
Pacioretty returned to action this season after missing the team’s last 15 regular-season games and the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010-11 due to injuries suffered on March 8, 2011 against Boston. The 23-year-old left wing set single-season career highs in goals (33), assists (32), points (65), game-winning goals (five) and shots on goal (286). His 29 even-strength goals ranked fourth in the League. On March 8 at Edmonton, the New Canaan, Connecticut native became the first U.S.-born player in Canadiens history to notch 30 goals in a season.
History
The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers’ Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and who died on January 15, 1968.
ALFREDSSON, LUPUL AND PACIORETTY NAMED MASTERTON TROPHY FINALISTS
NEW YORK (April 24, 2012) -- Right wing Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators, left wing Joffrey Lupul of the Toronto Maple Leafs and left wing Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens are the three finalists for the 2011-12 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” the National Hockey League announced today.
A $2,500 grant from the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association
(PHWA) is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.
The local chapters of the PHWA submitted nominations for the Masterton Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were designated as finalists. The winner will be announced Wednesday, June 20, during the 2012 NHL Awards from Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. The 2012 NHL Awards will be broadcast by NBC Sports Network in the United States and CBC in Canada.
Following are the finalists for the Masterton Trophy, in alphabetical
order:
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
The NHL's longest-serving captain (1999-2000), Alfredsson returned from off-season back surgery for his 16th NHL campaign and was a key contributor to the Senators' successful Stanley Cup Playoff drive.
Alfredsson was the leading vote-getter among NHL forwards in All-Star balloting, selected by his peers as an All-Star captain and the recipient of a thunderous standing ovation from hometown fans at Scotiabank Place following his two-goal outburst against Team Chara. Alfredsson finished the season with 59 points -- 27 goals, including the 400th regular-season goal of his career, and 32 assists.
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs
Returning to health after his career had been threatened in 2010 by two back surgeries and a blood infection, Lupul earned a spot on the Maple Leafs' top line and enjoyed the most productive season of his eight-year NHL career. Teaming with wing Phil Kessel to form the highest-scoring duo in the NHL, Lupul did not go more than one game without a point until January and was selected as assistant captain for Team Chara at the NHL All-Star Game. He notched a career-high 67 points in 66 games before a shoulder injury ended his season in early March.
Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
Pacioretty returned to action this season after missing the team’s last 15 regular-season games and the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010-11 due to injuries suffered on March 8, 2011 against Boston. The 23-year-old left wing set single-season career highs in goals (33), assists (32), points (65), game-winning goals (five) and shots on goal (286). His 29 even-strength goals ranked fourth in the League. On March 8 at Edmonton, the New Canaan, Connecticut native became the first U.S.-born player in Canadiens history to notch 30 goals in a season.
History
The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers’ Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and who died on January 15, 1968.
You can add Jim Nill to the long list of names the Montreal Canadiens are compiling in their GM search.
A source told ESPN.com that the Habs contacted the Detroit Red Wings regarding Nill, their well-respected assistant GM. In the past, the Wings have always said "No" to any team calling about him. Given Detroit's history of not allowing teams to speak with Nill, I don't think he's going anywhere. I'm fairly confident he's staying in Detroit.
The L.A. Times reported Wednesday that the Habs also called the Kings about assistant GM Ron Hextall and club executive Luc Robitaille.
The Habs, sources confirm, have also reached out to Chicago on assistant GM Marc Bergevin, to Tampa on assistant GM Julien BriseBois and Toronto about assistant GM Claude Loiselle. They have also contacted agent Pat Brisson.
And that's just the names we know about. The Canadiens are obviously leaving no stone unturned in their search.
A source told ESPN.com that the Habs contacted the Detroit Red Wings regarding Nill, their well-respected assistant GM. In the past, the Wings have always said "No" to any team calling about him. Given Detroit's history of not allowing teams to speak with Nill, I don't think he's going anywhere. I'm fairly confident he's staying in Detroit.
The L.A. Times reported Wednesday that the Habs also called the Kings about assistant GM Ron Hextall and club executive Luc Robitaille.
The Habs, sources confirm, have also reached out to Chicago on assistant GM Marc Bergevin, to Tampa on assistant GM Julien BriseBois and Toronto about assistant GM Claude Loiselle. They have also contacted agent Pat Brisson.
And that's just the names we know about. The Canadiens are obviously leaving no stone unturned in their search.
5 Things: Canada, realignment, predictions
April, 5, 2012
Apr 5
11:02
AM ET
By
Scott Burnside | ESPN.com
1. Oh no, Canada
Not a banner year for most of Canada’s seven NHL entries whose fans continue to blindly support them in spite of, in some cases, repeated futility. When the dust clears Saturday night at the close of the regular season, all seven Canadian buildings will have been sold out from beginning to end, yet only Ottawa and Vancouver will be preparing for playoff games.Edmonton and Toronto have combined for one playoff appearance since the lockout and zero trips to the postseason since 2006. The Flames have missed three straight seasons and haven’t won a playoff round since 2004, which makes their run to the Cup finals that year look like one of the most impressive flukes of all time. Winnipeg, for all of the good will that accompanied their return to Canada and fans who actually care, remains virtually indistinguishable from the Atlanta teams that wandered around the corners of the NHL for a decade, failing to win one single playoff game. About the most positive thing to say about Montreal as it remains nestled in last place in the Eastern Conference is that it is in a state of flux, while Edmonton reminds us of a hamster on a treadmill with "rebuild" written on the side.
It is too simplistic to suggest that Canadian ownership/management is complacent because they sell out regardless of the product on the ice. And let’s not forget that teams in Calgary and Ottawa have endured financial hardships and empty seats, while Montreal struggled to find an owner before George Gillett bought the team back in 2001. There seems to be no pattern to futility beyond the futility itself, and the sad part for Canadian fans is that the immediate future doesn’t look much brighter. Indeed, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if we are having this exact same conversation a year from now. Of the five northern teams that will be spending the summer trying to fix their tattered machines, is there one you can point to with any degree of certainty and say, yes, this is a playoff team? No. Not one.
2. Realignment
Some time ago, a top NHL executive explained the allure of the six-division alignment in this way: It’s important for teams like Atlanta, Tampa, Phoenix, Anaheim et al to have something to fight for, something tangible fans can relate to, and in some cases that means a division title.Now, we don’t exactly buy that fans in Phoenix are salivating at the prospect of hanging a Pacific Division banner on Jobing.com Arena. And that lonely Southeast Division banner that marked the Thrashers’ one and only trip to the playoffs in 2007 certainly didn’t represent much of anything when the moving trucks backed up to Philips Arena last June.
Has the race for the Pacific Division title been compelling? Of course. Four different teams -- Phoenix, Dallas, San Jose and current leader Los Angeles -- have enjoyed at least a brief ride at the top in recent weeks. But fans are jazzed about the race because it means a playoff berth. They get that. They don’t care about the nonexistent cachet of a division title.
Now the league is faced with the double embarrassment of having the Pacific Division and Southeast Division champs own home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, even though the Pacific champ will have the sixth-best point total in the conference, while the Florida Panthers will possibly have the seventh-best point total in the conference. Ugly.
Maybe the fact the NHLPA stomped its collective feet to derail realignment plans for next year will give both sides pause to come up with not just a new alignment plan but a playoff plan that will save the league further embarrassment. What’s wrong with two 15-team conferences seeded top to bottom with the top eight playing on in the spring? Or divide the teams up however they like geographically but seed them one through 16, thus ensuring the best teams have the best chances of succeeding?
3. Captains
We were asked during a radio interview recently about Dion Phaneuf's adequacy (or rather as the question was posed, his inadequacies) as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hockey is unique in that the captaincy is in many ways considered a sacred trust. It certainly is in places like Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia and New York, among other cities where the C denotes more than the guy that gets to talk to the referee. And when the position is handled well, having the right captain is a significant asset in moving a team forward.There was a lot of debate when Dale Tallon made Jonathan Toews the youngest captain in franchise history and the third-youngest captain of all time. But it was obviously the right choice as Toews has evolved quickly into one of the top leaders in the game and has a Stanley Cup ring and Olympic gold medal to show for those skills.
In Toronto, the Leafs appear to have forced Phaneuf into a role he was either ill-equipped or simply not ready to handle. But like the game as a whole, nothing happens in a vacuum. Toews didn’t transform the Blackhawks into a Cup winner by sheer dint of will. He had help in the form of guys such as Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Likewise, Phaneuf’s shortcomings as a captain are not the sole reason the Leafs embarked on one of the more eye-popping flameouts in recent years.
The discussion reminded us of covering the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998 during back-to-back Cup runs. This Red Wings team, starving for a championship, was undeniably Steve Yzerman’s team, yet having worn the C since he was a lad himself, he was completely comfortable in sharing the burden. When the team lost, Yzerman was invariably available to comment but his was not the lone voice. Brendan Shanahan, Larry Murphy, Igor Larionov and others shared that burden on both good days and bad. That’s how leadership is supposed to work.
4. Seriously Dude?
We have lots of awards and goodness knows we probably don’t need any more, but if we were to suggest another, it might be the "Seriously Dude?" award, which would go to the player who confounds the hockey world with otherworldly play that is simply off the charts.This award wouldn’t be for the Steven Stamkoses or the Evgeni Malkins but the everyday blue-collar guys who rise up out of the shadows and shoulder their way into the limelight. Our "Seriously Dude?" winner would be Phoenix netminder Mike Smith, who was waived last season by Tampa and then perhaps saved his career with a couple of stellar turns in net in relief of Dwayne Roloson during the playoffs. Phoenix goaltending coach Sean Burke lobbied GM Don Maloney to bring in Smith because he felt he could work with him as he had with Ilya Bryzgalov. The Yotes signed Smith to a two-year deal and he has rewarded them with stretches of superlative play that should see the Coyotes journey to the playoffs for a third straight year. As of Thursday morning, Smith was riding a three-game shutout streak, including a 54-save outing against Columbus this week that produced his eighth shutout of the season.
Other finalists for the "Seriously Dude?" award would include Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell, who has gone from scrappy, penalty-prone winger to scoring assassin. His 37 goals are tied for fifth in the NHL and his 16 power-play goals are second. Go figure. Montreal’s David Desharnais would also get consideration, as the undrafted center has meshed nicely with Max Pacioretty as two bright spots in an otherwise dark season for Les Habs. Desharnais is second in team scoring with 60 points and hasn’t gone more than three games without registering a point since mid-December. Throw in impending free agent P.A. Parenteau of the Islanders, whose 49 assists rank ninth in the league and whose 67 points are good for third on the Islanders, and you’ve got a pretty good collection of surprise achievers.
5. Next season's playoffs
These are hard days for the 14 NHL teams that will fail to qualify for the postseason. Sitting on the sidelines is a mark of failure; it is an acknowledgement that the planning of last offseason, the personnel decisions, the game plan and the players’ effort has been found lacking. In some cases, the gap between expectation and reality has been significant, as was the case in Anaheim and in either Buffalo or Washington (only one of which is likely to make the playoffs).But here are five teams that we think will be standing on the other side of the playoff line a year from now. With new head coach Kirk Muller already paying dividends, we suspect the Carolina Hurricanes will return after a three-year absence. Watch for Justin Faulk to continue to turn heads on the Carolina blue line. Anaheim will be back, too. The Ducks are too talented, and watch for Bruce Boudreau to have them back in the top eight and challenging for a Pacific Division title.
We often make sport of the New York Islanders, and it’s easy to do given the foibles of ownership and management, but there’s no denying the bright future guys like Parenteau, Matt Moulson and emerging star John Tavares represent. Still not sold on Evgeni Nabokov as "the answer" in goal, but watch for the Isles to jump up in the standings next season. We’re pretty much counting Dallas out of the picture in the Western Conference given its recent slide, but we like what GM Joe Nieuwendyk and rookie head coach Glen Gulutzan have going on in the Big D. New ownership and the stability Tom Gaglardi brings should see the Stars back in the top eight next season. We’re figuring either Buffalo or Washington to finish outside the playoff puzzle this spring, but whichever team fails to sneak in, we’re guessing both will be back in the top eight next season regardless of the significant upheaval a playoff miss will bring in either city.
The Rangers look for their fourth straight win overall when they host the Canadiens on Friday night.
The hunt is on.
Or should we say, la chasse est ouverte.
One of hockey’s most prestigious jobs is open after Montreal Canadiens president Geoff Molson fired Pierre Gauthier on Thursday and announced the process of replacing him has officially commenced.
Molson stopped short of saying the next GM must speak French, saying the most important criteria is to hire the best possible man for the job, although he said all things being equal, speaking French would be important.
In other words, unless a giant in the GM world like Ken Holland becomes available -- and that ain’t happening -- it appears being bilingual in French and English will be part of the equation, to no one’s surprise.
With that in mind, in no particular order, the candidates I believe make the most sense for Molson and his new advisor Serge Savard to interview:
First and foremost, they’re going to be drafting either first or second overall, depending on the April 10 lottery.
Already there’s been talk the Jackets might want to move their pick because the top-rated players in this year’s draft -- Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko -- are Russians, and the Jackets misfired on former high draft picks from Russia in Nikolai Zherdev and Nikita Filatov.
Hogwash, says Jackets GM Scott Howson.
"What I will say to that speculation is that I think it would be close-minded of us, I think it would border on stupidity to not include any player just because they’re from Russia," Howson told ESPN.com this week. "I think everybody is different. The fact that Zherdev and Filatov didn’t work out here will have no bearing on who we select in this upcoming draft."
The No. 1 priority for the NHL roster is pretty obvious.
"We know we’ve got to get better goaltending and that’s going to be an area we’re going to look very hard at to try and be active in that area," said Howson.
He likes his blue line with Jack Johnson joining the likes of James Wisniewski, Marc Methot, Fedor Tyutin and Nikita Nikitin, but up front there will be work to be done especially depending on Rick Nash’s future.
"I’ll have a conversation with Rick after the year ends and see where he’s at, see where we’re at, and make a game plan moving forward," said Howson.
It’s clear Howson hopes to work with Nash in making a deal that helps both the franchise and the player. Of course, with Nash having a no-movement clause, he really has no choice in the matter.
Given the fact a star forward like Zach Parise could be available July 1 via free agency to the same teams who may covet Nash, you must question if that puts pressure on the Jackets to trade Nash before July 1 so as to not compete with those same teams.
"If we’re in fact going to trade him, it’s going to take as long as it takes for us to get the right deal," Howson said. "That’s just the way it has to be, that’s how we’re going to operate. If it takes until June 22, or July 22, or August 22, or December 22, we’ll do it until we get the right deal."
Great question, which I posed to the Wild GM himself.
"We simply wanted him to get some NHL experience this season to better prepare him for next year," Chuck Fletcher told ESPN.com via email. "We aren't too concerned about burning a year of his contract. It is a fairly common practice these days. And since nobody has a crystal ball, it is difficult to predict what impact this decision will have on Zucker's free agency rights. We are comfortable with the decision obviously."
The crystal ball comment refers to the expiry of the current collective bargaining agreement in September, and Fletcher is right -- who knows what kind of rules and system awaits the hockey world once the NHLPA and NHL hammer out a new CBA?
Or should we say, la chasse est ouverte.
One of hockey’s most prestigious jobs is open after Montreal Canadiens president Geoff Molson fired Pierre Gauthier on Thursday and announced the process of replacing him has officially commenced.
Molson stopped short of saying the next GM must speak French, saying the most important criteria is to hire the best possible man for the job, although he said all things being equal, speaking French would be important.
In other words, unless a giant in the GM world like Ken Holland becomes available -- and that ain’t happening -- it appears being bilingual in French and English will be part of the equation, to no one’s surprise.
With that in mind, in no particular order, the candidates I believe make the most sense for Molson and his new advisor Serge Savard to interview:
- Julien BriseBois: The assistant GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning is considered a bright, up-and-coming star in the industry. The knock against him is that he isn’t a former NHL player, but those who have worked with him will tell you he’s not just a CBA/cap expert but also has a keen eye for talent. Given that he previously worked in the Habs’ front office, he’s a pretty obvious choice to get a serious look, and I consider him the top candidate at this point very early in the search process.
- Marc Bergevin: The Chicago Blackhawks assistant GM will one day be a GM in the NHL. To be able to do it in his native province would be a blast for him. He’s picked up important front-office experience in Chicago and those who know him believe he has a terrific eye for talent. Some may feel he needs more front-office seasoning, but he’s certainly one to watch.
- Francois Giguere: Currently out of hockey, the former Colorado Avalanche GM and Boston Bruins scout is well-respected in hockey front-office circles and is seen by some as a darkhorse candidate in this race. Some industry sources believe he got a raw deal in Colorado and would do a good job if given another GM chance.
- Vincent Damphousse: The former Habs captain has a relationship with Savard from his playing days when Savard was GM of the Habs. They won a Cup together there in 1993. Damphousse has always been a cerebral type, active as a player within the NHLPA and post-playing career as a short-lived executive within the players’ union. The knock against him is that he doesn’t have any management experience on an NHL team. If hired, he would need some sort of senior advisor or mentor to help him navigate. Did we mention his relationship with Savard? Not to be lost in Damphousse’s candidancy is also the fact that he’s good friends with Patrick Roy, whom no doubt he would consider as Habs coach.
- Claude Loiselle: As assistant to the GM in Toronto, the hard-working Loiselle negotiates player contracts for the Maple Leafs, and he also has important experience at the league head office. He’s going to be a GM one day and the Habs should give him a look if they’re smart.
- Patrick Roy: He’s told people he’d rather just be a coach when he makes the jump to the NHL, but other people I spoke with Thursday also believe that if Roy figures this is his only chance at getting a foot in the door in Montreal, it’s not totally inconceivable he might try to eye both jobs in Montreal.
- Pat Brisson: The mega agent, who represents the likes of Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews, is a native Quebecer and has been seen by some as a possible GM one day. Still, given how successful his business is and the fact his kids’ roots are in Los Angeles, where he’s based out of, it would be a long shot.
- Pierre McGuire: The well-known TV analyst and former NHL assistant coach has been interviewed in the past for GM jobs but hasn’t left the screen yet. Obviously the allure of running the team in his former town would be appealing to him. He knows the game inside out and he’s bilingual.
- Andre Savard: He was GM of the Habs from 2000-01 through 2002-03, replaced by Bob Gainey. Currently a pro scout with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Savard has a keen hockey mind and some people believe he deserves a second shot at management.
- Doug Risebrough: The former Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames GM isn’t French-Canadian, but he is a former Habs player from their ’70s heyday. He’s currently a consultant for the New York Rangers.
- Pierre Lacroix: He's certainly the most accomplished on this list GM-wise, but the Colorado Avalanche president told me during All-Star Weekend in Ottawa that he wasn't up to the day-to-day rigors of being a GM again. The 64-year-old has battled health issues over the past few years.
Jackets' offseason questions
The 30th-place Blue Jackets have an incredibly busy offseason staring at them, from trading Rick Nash to finding a No. 1 goalie and plugging other obvious holes in their lineup.First and foremost, they’re going to be drafting either first or second overall, depending on the April 10 lottery.
Already there’s been talk the Jackets might want to move their pick because the top-rated players in this year’s draft -- Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko -- are Russians, and the Jackets misfired on former high draft picks from Russia in Nikolai Zherdev and Nikita Filatov.
Hogwash, says Jackets GM Scott Howson.
"What I will say to that speculation is that I think it would be close-minded of us, I think it would border on stupidity to not include any player just because they’re from Russia," Howson told ESPN.com this week. "I think everybody is different. The fact that Zherdev and Filatov didn’t work out here will have no bearing on who we select in this upcoming draft."
The No. 1 priority for the NHL roster is pretty obvious.
"We know we’ve got to get better goaltending and that’s going to be an area we’re going to look very hard at to try and be active in that area," said Howson.
He likes his blue line with Jack Johnson joining the likes of James Wisniewski, Marc Methot, Fedor Tyutin and Nikita Nikitin, but up front there will be work to be done especially depending on Rick Nash’s future.
"I’ll have a conversation with Rick after the year ends and see where he’s at, see where we’re at, and make a game plan moving forward," said Howson.
It’s clear Howson hopes to work with Nash in making a deal that helps both the franchise and the player. Of course, with Nash having a no-movement clause, he really has no choice in the matter.
Given the fact a star forward like Zach Parise could be available July 1 via free agency to the same teams who may covet Nash, you must question if that puts pressure on the Jackets to trade Nash before July 1 so as to not compete with those same teams.
"If we’re in fact going to trade him, it’s going to take as long as it takes for us to get the right deal," Howson said. "That’s just the way it has to be, that’s how we’re going to operate. If it takes until June 22, or July 22, or August 22, or December 22, we’ll do it until we get the right deal."
Wild's entry-level addition
A reader earlier this week asked me during my weekly chat why the Minnesota Wild decided to sign University of Denver forward Jason Zucker to an entry-level contract with the plan of using him in the remaining regular-season games. What the reader wanted to know is, why burn the first year of an entry-level contract for less than two weeks of regular-season hockey?Great question, which I posed to the Wild GM himself.
"We simply wanted him to get some NHL experience this season to better prepare him for next year," Chuck Fletcher told ESPN.com via email. "We aren't too concerned about burning a year of his contract. It is a fairly common practice these days. And since nobody has a crystal ball, it is difficult to predict what impact this decision will have on Zucker's free agency rights. We are comfortable with the decision obviously."
The crystal ball comment refers to the expiry of the current collective bargaining agreement in September, and Fletcher is right -- who knows what kind of rules and system awaits the hockey world once the NHLPA and NHL hammer out a new CBA?
5 Things: Habs are a mess; Patrick Roy?
March, 29, 2012
Mar 29
12:26
PM ET
By
Scott Burnside | ESPN.com
1. Habs restructuring starts anew. Well, cue the Patrick Roy frenzy once more in Montreal. When the Montreal Canadiens announced Thursday morning that they had fired GM Pierre Gauthier and begun the search for his successor, it means the return-of-Roy rumors will once again pick up steam. We’ve been curious to see how Canadiens owner, president and CEO Geoff Molson follows up his in-season bumbling and whether he guides the storied franchise back on track or whether he is the catalyst for even more chaos and disrepair.
Molson, of course, dithered when head coach Jacques Martin was fired and interim head coach Randy Cunneyworth was discovered to be -- gasp -- a plain old Anglophone. Instead of backing off the hounds in the French press and angry fans who demanded that their coach speak French regardless of coaching acumen, Molson mumbled via a release that it was important that the Habs’ coach, whomever that might be, speak French and that the position would be re-evaluated at the end of the season. He has made the first -- most would say obvious -- move of dispatching Gauthier, who had made a hash of the club’s roster both in terms of talent and salary structure. Molson’s tepid response to Cunneyworth’s status ensures the Habs will also be looking for a new -- read: bilingual or Francophone -- head coach this summer. Reports had percolated recently that Molson had already reached out to Hall of Famer and Habs icon Patrick Roy about a top-level position with the Habs as either head coach or GM. Roy, who loves to hear his name connected to Habs positions, denied the reports, but with Gauthier officially out of the picture that discussion will no doubt intensify.
Could Roy -- part owner, GM and head coach of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League -- become a passable NHL head coach? Maybe, although the number of coaches who make a seamless jump from juniors to the NHL is negligible. Check out Brent Sutter and Pete DeBoer’s playoff records since making such a leap, while Dale Hunter is in the process of coaching the Washington Capitals out of the playoffs for the first time since 2007 after coming aboard from the junior ranks earlier this season.
Regardless, Molson’s first and arguably most important order of business will be in finding a replacement for Gauthier. We don’t think Molson has the stomach to hire outside the language bubble, which means he’s already limiting himself to candidates only with French language skills. That said, there are a number of interesting candidates, including former Hab front office man Julien BriseBois, who spent nine years with the club and is now the assistant GM in Tampa. There’s also Claude Loiselle, who does much of the contract heavy lifting in Toronto as assistant GM. Marc Bergevin, the assistant GM in Chicago, is another name you’ll hear bandied about, as well as that of former Hab captain Vincent Damphousse. The timing is interesting, but one assumes Molson will want to move quickly to name a successor so he can prepare for the draft, which would put BriseBois and Loiselle in good stead given that both their current teams won’t be in the playoffs either, so they are doing a lot of the same work.
2. How about Hartley as coach? When it comes to potential coaching options, Geoff Molson should be looking toward Switzerland if he’s looking at an option to replace Randy Cunneyworth.
We managed to hook up with former Atlanta Thrashers/Colorado Avalanche head coach Bob Hartley via Skype this week. He showed us the view outside his window in a small village just outside Zurich, where he is in the midst of a rather remarkable playoff run.
Hartley’s Zurich Lions squad has come out of the seventh seed to knock off the top two teams in the Swiss elite league and begins the final series next week against Bern. His squad has gone 8-0 in the postseason, including beating a Davos team that had beaten Zurich six straight times during the regular season. Led by former Vancouver Canuck Jeff Tambellini, Hartley’s squad has outscored opponents 30-9 in their eight playoff games.
“He had an unbelievable season, but he’s found another gear,” Hartley said of Tambellini, whom he likened to former Colorado captain Joe Sakic.
Other former NHLers playing for Hartley include Steve McCarthy and Cory Murphy. He also has a 43-year-old netminder in Ari Sulander on his roster.
“I think he played against Tretiak,” Hartley said, joking.
Hartley has embraced the culture in Switzerland, both on and off the ice. The cities in the elite league are so close that the players sleep in their own bed at night, and some opponents are less than half an hour away.
“We could dress in our own dressing room” for some road games, Hartley said, joking.
There is plenty of time for practice and the former Cup winner has enjoyed the teaching element of the game in Switzerland, especially with a team that features a number of 20-something skaters.
Hartley pointed his computer around the balcony of his apartment so we could say hello to his next-door neighbor and assistant coach, Jacques Cloutier.
The Zurich airport is nearby but there are also cows and goats and strawberry fields. His wife walks with a little cart like the locals to the nearby grocery store that is a fraction of the size of the supermarkets in North America.
“I know I wanted to coach. I know I still loved coaching but I love this league,” Hartley said.
When it comes to a return to the NHL, Hartley is cautious, saying he wants to focus on the current playoff run. He has another season on his contract with the Lions and he's loving life in Switzerland. But it would likewise be a shock if a handful of teams -- starting with the Montreal Canadiens and possibly a new team in Quebec City -- weren't interested in talking to Hartley about possible openings.
Another team that might want to start thinking about talking to the Lions and Hartley about prying him away from his new hockey home in the Alps is the Calgary Flames, where old friend Jay Feaster is the GM. Among the team’s players is Alex Tanguay, who won a Cup in Colorado under Hartley back in 2001.
3. Speaking of Patrick Roy and Quebec and all things relocation. What’s the biggest difference between what we saw and heard a year ago from the True North group that was waiting to buy and relocate the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg and the folks in Quebec City, who are likewise desperate to see the NHL return to the provincial capital? Do you remember the Winnipeg group clamoring and banging the drums about their plans to make ready for a return of the NHL to their prairie city? The short answer is no. That’s what made Mark Chipman and the new owners of the Jets so attractive to the NHL. Relocation is a touchy subject for commissioner Gary Bettman and the league. It’s an admission of failure on a number of levels and when it happens, as it did a year ago -- and as it might happen in the coming weeks when the Phoenix Coyotes saga is finally brought to a close -- the league wants it done with a certain amount of decorum.
Now, you can’t blame people in Quebec City for being excited that funding has been approved for a new $400 million arena that could -- the operative word is could -- host an NHL club, but having a big news conference last Sunday to announce it (who has a news conference on a Sunday, anyway?) simply runs contrary to the way the NHL likes to do business. You’ll notice that with all the backslapping over the arena plans, there wasn’t one NHL executive on hand to share in the excitement. Bettman has been consistent with his message vis-a-vis all matters of relocation: He understands the excitement in places like Quebec City and Seattle, but no promises have been made, and when they are made it will be quietly and, if Winnipeg is any guide, at the last minute. A press conference like last Sunday's, regardless of whether the main players steadfastly refused to discuss the possibility of the NHL returning to the province, drives up the very expectations the NHL is keen to keep under control.
Rest assured, the NHL was not pleased with those proceedings, and it’s never a good thing to annoy the gatekeepers of the club you’re hoping to join. Remember how Jim Balsillie came in guns a-blazing, trying to make the NHL bend to his will as he attempted to become an owner? How did that work out? The folks in Quebec City would do well to take a page out of the Winnipeg playbook and sit quietly and wait for events to unfold, or run the risk of finding themselves with a new building completely void of NHL hockey players.
4. Blues in a good position. We were chatting with St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock the other day and the topic came up of how he was going to handle his starting goaltenders come playoff time. He immediately recoiled.
“I’m trying to not make that call until I absolutely have to. I’m trying to not think about it,” Hitchcock said with a laugh.
No wonder. This conversation took place shortly before Brian Elliott shut out the Cup-hopeful Nashville Predators on Tuesday night by a 3-0 count, for Elliott’s third straight shutout. The whitewashing gave Elliott nine shutouts for the season, tied with Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles for the league lead. Along with teammate Jaroslav Halak, the Blues’ netminders have combined for 15 shutouts this season, tying a record for the most by a team in the post-expansion era.
The Blues hold down the top seed in the Western Conference and are in the hunt for the Presidents’ Trophy, and that has set up an interesting dilemma for Hitchcock as he begins to contemplate naming his starting goaltender for the playoffs. The prevailing sentiment has been that Hitchcock will turn to Halak, who was outstanding for Montreal in 2010 when the 8th-seed Habs upended Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington and then the defending Stanley Cup champs from Pittsburgh. But Hitchcock isn’t tipping his hand, which isn’t surprising given how good Elliott -- the league leader in goals-against average and save percentage -- has been.
The Blues are in an enviable position in being able to choose between two goaltenders who are on a collision course with a William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals during the season. While other teams are riding their No. 1 netminder just to get in the playoff door, both Elliott and Halak should be well-primed for the postseason without being overworked.
“I’m trying to keep both guys really active and engaged,” Hitchcock said.
The veteran coach said he’ll go “more by feel” when it comes to handling the goaltending duties once the playoffs begin. He also knows if he needs to make a goaltending change at any point he won’t have to wait until the situation is dire.
“We’re in a very unique situation. We don’t have to get into where it’s a last-gasp situation before we decided to try something different” when it comes to goaltending, Hitchcock said.
It goes without saying that the Blues play equally well in front of either goaltender.
Former NHL netminder John Davidson, now the team’s president, said there’s been absolutely no conflict between the two netminders, even though both are highly competitive and want to play.
“There’s not been one iota of an issue, zero,” Davidson told ESPN.com.
As for the theory that a team has to identify a starting goaltender before the playoffs, Davidson understands it exists but he doesn’t buy that it’s not a blueprint for postseason success.
5. Who else has a crowded crease? If we accept, then, that the Blues have the ultimate goaltending tandem heading into the postseason, what other team(s) boast a comparable one-two punch, and could such a tandem be key to a long playoff run?
The obvious No. 2 tandem behind Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak would be the Roberto Luongo-Cory Schneider duo in Vancouver. The Canucks rank fourth overall in goals against per game and there has been a more or less equitable split in duties, with Schneider playing a career-high 30 games and standing second in the league in save percentage and fifth in goals-against average.
While Luongo would be expected to be the Game 1 starter when the playoffs begin, like Hitchcock, Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault won’t be waiting until the Canucks’ backs are against the wall to make a switch if Luongo struggles.
After the Blues and Canucks, there is a significant drop-off in terms of viable goaltending depth come playoff time. If Tuukka Rask is healthy, he has the tools to come on in relief of Tim Thomas for Boston, but his return from injury in time for the start of the playoffs is uncertain. The Devils have an interesting duo in Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg, who have split time this season, although Brodeur, the winningest goaltender of all time, is the obvious No. 1. Still, the 38-year-old Hedberg has experience and Brodeur has struggled in the playoffs since the Devils’ last Cup win in 2003.
Chicago fans have enjoyed a high level of angst regarding their goaltending situation this season (they rank a pedestrian 22nd in goals allowed per game), although Corey Crawford has rediscovered his mojo in recent weeks. Still, Ray Emery has turned in some nice stretches for the Hawks and we have no doubt that head coach Joel Quenneville will have no compunctions about making a goaltending switch should Crawford hit a rocky stretch this spring.
Finally, while the Florida Panthers are lightly regarded as a playoff team, the Southeast Division leaders are on the verge of heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2000, and both starter Jose Theodore and veteran backup Scott Clemmensen have done a nice job down the stretch in keeping the team afloat even as the Cats’ offense has dried up.
As for the rest, well, let’s just say there are a lot of coaches and GMs hoping for good health so they don’t have to consider Plan B.
Molson, of course, dithered when head coach Jacques Martin was fired and interim head coach Randy Cunneyworth was discovered to be -- gasp -- a plain old Anglophone. Instead of backing off the hounds in the French press and angry fans who demanded that their coach speak French regardless of coaching acumen, Molson mumbled via a release that it was important that the Habs’ coach, whomever that might be, speak French and that the position would be re-evaluated at the end of the season. He has made the first -- most would say obvious -- move of dispatching Gauthier, who had made a hash of the club’s roster both in terms of talent and salary structure. Molson’s tepid response to Cunneyworth’s status ensures the Habs will also be looking for a new -- read: bilingual or Francophone -- head coach this summer. Reports had percolated recently that Molson had already reached out to Hall of Famer and Habs icon Patrick Roy about a top-level position with the Habs as either head coach or GM. Roy, who loves to hear his name connected to Habs positions, denied the reports, but with Gauthier officially out of the picture that discussion will no doubt intensify.
Could Roy -- part owner, GM and head coach of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League -- become a passable NHL head coach? Maybe, although the number of coaches who make a seamless jump from juniors to the NHL is negligible. Check out Brent Sutter and Pete DeBoer’s playoff records since making such a leap, while Dale Hunter is in the process of coaching the Washington Capitals out of the playoffs for the first time since 2007 after coming aboard from the junior ranks earlier this season.
Regardless, Molson’s first and arguably most important order of business will be in finding a replacement for Gauthier. We don’t think Molson has the stomach to hire outside the language bubble, which means he’s already limiting himself to candidates only with French language skills. That said, there are a number of interesting candidates, including former Hab front office man Julien BriseBois, who spent nine years with the club and is now the assistant GM in Tampa. There’s also Claude Loiselle, who does much of the contract heavy lifting in Toronto as assistant GM. Marc Bergevin, the assistant GM in Chicago, is another name you’ll hear bandied about, as well as that of former Hab captain Vincent Damphousse. The timing is interesting, but one assumes Molson will want to move quickly to name a successor so he can prepare for the draft, which would put BriseBois and Loiselle in good stead given that both their current teams won’t be in the playoffs either, so they are doing a lot of the same work.
2. How about Hartley as coach? When it comes to potential coaching options, Geoff Molson should be looking toward Switzerland if he’s looking at an option to replace Randy Cunneyworth.
We managed to hook up with former Atlanta Thrashers/Colorado Avalanche head coach Bob Hartley via Skype this week. He showed us the view outside his window in a small village just outside Zurich, where he is in the midst of a rather remarkable playoff run.
Hartley’s Zurich Lions squad has come out of the seventh seed to knock off the top two teams in the Swiss elite league and begins the final series next week against Bern. His squad has gone 8-0 in the postseason, including beating a Davos team that had beaten Zurich six straight times during the regular season. Led by former Vancouver Canuck Jeff Tambellini, Hartley’s squad has outscored opponents 30-9 in their eight playoff games.
“He had an unbelievable season, but he’s found another gear,” Hartley said of Tambellini, whom he likened to former Colorado captain Joe Sakic.
Other former NHLers playing for Hartley include Steve McCarthy and Cory Murphy. He also has a 43-year-old netminder in Ari Sulander on his roster.
“I think he played against Tretiak,” Hartley said, joking.
Hartley has embraced the culture in Switzerland, both on and off the ice. The cities in the elite league are so close that the players sleep in their own bed at night, and some opponents are less than half an hour away.
“We could dress in our own dressing room” for some road games, Hartley said, joking.
There is plenty of time for practice and the former Cup winner has enjoyed the teaching element of the game in Switzerland, especially with a team that features a number of 20-something skaters.
Hartley pointed his computer around the balcony of his apartment so we could say hello to his next-door neighbor and assistant coach, Jacques Cloutier.
The Zurich airport is nearby but there are also cows and goats and strawberry fields. His wife walks with a little cart like the locals to the nearby grocery store that is a fraction of the size of the supermarkets in North America.
“I know I wanted to coach. I know I still loved coaching but I love this league,” Hartley said.
When it comes to a return to the NHL, Hartley is cautious, saying he wants to focus on the current playoff run. He has another season on his contract with the Lions and he's loving life in Switzerland. But it would likewise be a shock if a handful of teams -- starting with the Montreal Canadiens and possibly a new team in Quebec City -- weren't interested in talking to Hartley about possible openings.
Another team that might want to start thinking about talking to the Lions and Hartley about prying him away from his new hockey home in the Alps is the Calgary Flames, where old friend Jay Feaster is the GM. Among the team’s players is Alex Tanguay, who won a Cup in Colorado under Hartley back in 2001.
3. Speaking of Patrick Roy and Quebec and all things relocation. What’s the biggest difference between what we saw and heard a year ago from the True North group that was waiting to buy and relocate the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg and the folks in Quebec City, who are likewise desperate to see the NHL return to the provincial capital? Do you remember the Winnipeg group clamoring and banging the drums about their plans to make ready for a return of the NHL to their prairie city? The short answer is no. That’s what made Mark Chipman and the new owners of the Jets so attractive to the NHL. Relocation is a touchy subject for commissioner Gary Bettman and the league. It’s an admission of failure on a number of levels and when it happens, as it did a year ago -- and as it might happen in the coming weeks when the Phoenix Coyotes saga is finally brought to a close -- the league wants it done with a certain amount of decorum.
Now, you can’t blame people in Quebec City for being excited that funding has been approved for a new $400 million arena that could -- the operative word is could -- host an NHL club, but having a big news conference last Sunday to announce it (who has a news conference on a Sunday, anyway?) simply runs contrary to the way the NHL likes to do business. You’ll notice that with all the backslapping over the arena plans, there wasn’t one NHL executive on hand to share in the excitement. Bettman has been consistent with his message vis-a-vis all matters of relocation: He understands the excitement in places like Quebec City and Seattle, but no promises have been made, and when they are made it will be quietly and, if Winnipeg is any guide, at the last minute. A press conference like last Sunday's, regardless of whether the main players steadfastly refused to discuss the possibility of the NHL returning to the province, drives up the very expectations the NHL is keen to keep under control.
Rest assured, the NHL was not pleased with those proceedings, and it’s never a good thing to annoy the gatekeepers of the club you’re hoping to join. Remember how Jim Balsillie came in guns a-blazing, trying to make the NHL bend to his will as he attempted to become an owner? How did that work out? The folks in Quebec City would do well to take a page out of the Winnipeg playbook and sit quietly and wait for events to unfold, or run the risk of finding themselves with a new building completely void of NHL hockey players.
4. Blues in a good position. We were chatting with St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock the other day and the topic came up of how he was going to handle his starting goaltenders come playoff time. He immediately recoiled.
“I’m trying to not make that call until I absolutely have to. I’m trying to not think about it,” Hitchcock said with a laugh.
No wonder. This conversation took place shortly before Brian Elliott shut out the Cup-hopeful Nashville Predators on Tuesday night by a 3-0 count, for Elliott’s third straight shutout. The whitewashing gave Elliott nine shutouts for the season, tied with Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles for the league lead. Along with teammate Jaroslav Halak, the Blues’ netminders have combined for 15 shutouts this season, tying a record for the most by a team in the post-expansion era.
The Blues hold down the top seed in the Western Conference and are in the hunt for the Presidents’ Trophy, and that has set up an interesting dilemma for Hitchcock as he begins to contemplate naming his starting goaltender for the playoffs. The prevailing sentiment has been that Hitchcock will turn to Halak, who was outstanding for Montreal in 2010 when the 8th-seed Habs upended Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington and then the defending Stanley Cup champs from Pittsburgh. But Hitchcock isn’t tipping his hand, which isn’t surprising given how good Elliott -- the league leader in goals-against average and save percentage -- has been.
The Blues are in an enviable position in being able to choose between two goaltenders who are on a collision course with a William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals during the season. While other teams are riding their No. 1 netminder just to get in the playoff door, both Elliott and Halak should be well-primed for the postseason without being overworked.
“I’m trying to keep both guys really active and engaged,” Hitchcock said.
The veteran coach said he’ll go “more by feel” when it comes to handling the goaltending duties once the playoffs begin. He also knows if he needs to make a goaltending change at any point he won’t have to wait until the situation is dire.
“We’re in a very unique situation. We don’t have to get into where it’s a last-gasp situation before we decided to try something different” when it comes to goaltending, Hitchcock said.
It goes without saying that the Blues play equally well in front of either goaltender.
Former NHL netminder John Davidson, now the team’s president, said there’s been absolutely no conflict between the two netminders, even though both are highly competitive and want to play.
“There’s not been one iota of an issue, zero,” Davidson told ESPN.com.
As for the theory that a team has to identify a starting goaltender before the playoffs, Davidson understands it exists but he doesn’t buy that it’s not a blueprint for postseason success.
5. Who else has a crowded crease? If we accept, then, that the Blues have the ultimate goaltending tandem heading into the postseason, what other team(s) boast a comparable one-two punch, and could such a tandem be key to a long playoff run?
The obvious No. 2 tandem behind Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak would be the Roberto Luongo-Cory Schneider duo in Vancouver. The Canucks rank fourth overall in goals against per game and there has been a more or less equitable split in duties, with Schneider playing a career-high 30 games and standing second in the league in save percentage and fifth in goals-against average.
While Luongo would be expected to be the Game 1 starter when the playoffs begin, like Hitchcock, Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault won’t be waiting until the Canucks’ backs are against the wall to make a switch if Luongo struggles.
After the Blues and Canucks, there is a significant drop-off in terms of viable goaltending depth come playoff time. If Tuukka Rask is healthy, he has the tools to come on in relief of Tim Thomas for Boston, but his return from injury in time for the start of the playoffs is uncertain. The Devils have an interesting duo in Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg, who have split time this season, although Brodeur, the winningest goaltender of all time, is the obvious No. 1. Still, the 38-year-old Hedberg has experience and Brodeur has struggled in the playoffs since the Devils’ last Cup win in 2003.
Chicago fans have enjoyed a high level of angst regarding their goaltending situation this season (they rank a pedestrian 22nd in goals allowed per game), although Corey Crawford has rediscovered his mojo in recent weeks. Still, Ray Emery has turned in some nice stretches for the Hawks and we have no doubt that head coach Joel Quenneville will have no compunctions about making a goaltending switch should Crawford hit a rocky stretch this spring.
Finally, while the Florida Panthers are lightly regarded as a playoff team, the Southeast Division leaders are on the verge of heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2000, and both starter Jose Theodore and veteran backup Scott Clemmensen have done a nice job down the stretch in keeping the team afloat even as the Cats’ offense has dried up.
As for the rest, well, let’s just say there are a lot of coaches and GMs hoping for good health so they don’t have to consider Plan B.
Debate: What now for Habs?
March, 29, 2012
Mar 29
11:01
AM ET
By
Scott Burnside and
Craig Custance | ESPN.com
Scott Burnside and Craig Custance go toe-to-toe on the biggest news of the day, if not the week: the Canadiens' firing GM Pierre Gauthier.
BURNSIDE: Good day, my friend. Well, the stripping down of the Montreal Canadiens has begun with the team announcing Thursday morning that GM Pierre Gauthier had been fired. No surprise there, given how poorly this team was constructed both in terms of the on-ice talent and the salary structure. Whoever takes over has a long road to recovery ahead of him in terms of getting the Habs back to being a playoff-worthy team, let alone becoming a Stanley Cup contender. This announcement will no doubt increase the number of Patrick Roy-returns-to-Montreal rumors exponentially, as the Hall of Famer has already been linked to a variety of top-level positions within the organization, including coach and GM. One would assume that the moment the regular season ends for the Canadiens, they will also be looking for a new head coach, given the tepid support Randy Cunneyworth was given by owner and president Geoff Molson when the whole language issue cropped up after Jacques Martin’s firing earlier this season. Roy will get all the headlines, but if the team wants to move forward, for my money it must look at a guy like Claude Loiselle, who is the assistant general manager in Toronto and has a wealth of team-building experience. Then there is Julien BriseBois, the assistant GM in Tampa who spent nine years with the Habs and knows the team well. As always in Montreal, the new GM won’t necessarily be the best man for the job but the best man for the job who can speak French. Regardless, Thursday marks the continuation of what should be a time of great upheaval for the once-proud franchise.
CUSTANCE: Not a moment too soon, either. I'd add Chicago assistant GM Marc Bergevin's name to the mix, too. There's no shortage of qualified candidates, but if I were in charge, my first call would be to Tampa Bay asking for permission to talk to BriseBois, one of the most impressive young executives in the game. The timing to me is a bit curious. Why the rush to do it now rather than wait until after the season? Whoever takes the job has his work cut out, although key pieces are already in place, like a franchise goalie in Carey Price and a potential franchise defenseman in P.K. Subban. There certainly are worse reclamation projects in the NHL.
But let's move the conversation to teams that are actually relevant right now. The Rangers looked impressive Wednesday night in beating the Jets and are starting to solidify that No. 1 seed in the East. It's looking more and more like we'll see a first-round series between the Flyers and Penguins, with those two teams battling for home ice right now. That's on the line when Pittsburgh plays the Islanders on Thursday night and the Flyers, without Ilya Bryzgalov, take on the Maple Leafs. "We have to stay in front of Philly and get home ice. It's not like it's a given," Penguins forward Chris Kunitz said when we chatted Wednesday. "It gives you the positive feeling of accomplishing something to get into the playoffs. That's the key -- to work towards something."
BURNSIDE: Hard to imagine a first-round matchup that would be more compelling than Philly-Pittsburgh -- unless, of course, it’s Detroit-Nashville, another series that looks pretty much set in stone at this point and one I know you’ll be covering. But it wouldn’t be the Daily Debate without a stop in the Pacific Division, where the division lead seemingly changes on a nightly basis. Wednesday was no different, as the Los Angeles Kings dumped Calgary 3-0, pretty much ending the Flames’ playoff hopes, and jumped back into the top eight, while Dallas knocked off Edmonton 3-1 to move back into the division lead. Jonathan Quick's shutout was his ninth of the season, and he’s tied with Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues for the league lead. Quick is tied for third in goals-against average and fourth in save percentage, and I’m wondering just where the GMs are going to slot Quick when it comes to Vezina Trophy balloting. I think most of us have envisioned Quick on the periphery of the Vezina discussion, with Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne seemingly locked in as the top two candidates. That might not be the case anymore with the Kings’ surge into the playoff picture and with Quick’s solid netminding throughout the season.
CUSTANCE: He certainly deserves consideration. I'd have a hard time prying it from Lundqvist, but the Kings wouldn't be in the playoff mix without Quick's efforts. To me, the most impressive thing has been his consistency. He hasn't had a month in 2012 when his goals-against average finished over 2.00. His worst month this season statistically was in November, when he was 4-5-2 with a 2.43 goals-against average, but even then his save percentage was .924. And I loved that goal from Dustin Brown on Wednesday night. Great spacing from the Kings, and he showed just enough patience to beat Miikka Kiprusoff. Remember those Brown trade rumors on the weekend before the deadline? That seemed to light a fire under him, because he has 17 points in the 16 games since. That's a captain stepping up. I know we've hit the Pacific hard lately in the Daily Debate, but something tells me you and Pierre will keep the streak going Friday morning, because Thursday night's game in Phoenix is absolutely huge. The Coyotes will be well-rested and waiting for a Sharks team coming off another loss to the Ducks. You think Shane Doan will be ready to go after serving his suspension and having to watch the playoff race unfold around him?
BURNSIDE: Oh, I think it’s a safe bet that the outcome of that game will be a topic for discussion Friday morning. The idle Coyotes were pushed out of the top eight, and I don’t think it’s overstating it to suggest a win is imperative to the Yotes’ playoff chances. Getting Doan back after a three-game suspension for a dangerous elbow thrown at Dallas’ Jamie Benn is huge, although the Stars also need Radim Vrbata and Mike Smith to get healthy and back to form, and quickly. The Sharks, meanwhile, continue to confound, looking like a team that could make noise in the playoffs one night and then falling flat the next. On Wednesday they couldn’t come up with enough offense and dropped a 3-1 decision to an Anaheim team whose playoff hopes evaporated some days ago. Those are points you can’t leave on the table if you’re in the Sharks’ position. Finally, how do you see the Boston-Washington showdown unfolding Thursday night? The Caps have to bounce back after having their lunch handed to them at home against Buffalo on Tuesday. The Bruins have quietly gotten back on track after wobbling earlier in the new year and have won three in a row. Is it too early to call this a must-win for the Caps, who trail eighth-place Buffalo by two points with five games to go?
CUSTANCE: No, I don't think it's too early to call it a must-win. And if they lose this game on the heels of a loss to the Sabres and finish outside the playoffs, it will set up a fascinating summer in Washington. You have to assume Dale Hunter won't be back, but what else would GM George McPhee do? Does that core need a severe shake-up? Seems like there's something flawed about that group that I can't quite put my finger on. But the Ca[s are still alive, so we can save the dismantling debate for another day. Good to see the Bruins stabilizing just in time for the playoffs. No surprise that Tim Thomas is in the middle of it. After giving up six goals against Florida in a game you witnessed live, Thomas has allowed a total of eight in his next five games. If he keeps that up, the Bruins will be as dangerous as ever in the playoffs. All right, Scott, it's been fun. Enjoy the games.
BURNSIDE: Good day, my friend. Well, the stripping down of the Montreal Canadiens has begun with the team announcing Thursday morning that GM Pierre Gauthier had been fired. No surprise there, given how poorly this team was constructed both in terms of the on-ice talent and the salary structure. Whoever takes over has a long road to recovery ahead of him in terms of getting the Habs back to being a playoff-worthy team, let alone becoming a Stanley Cup contender. This announcement will no doubt increase the number of Patrick Roy-returns-to-Montreal rumors exponentially, as the Hall of Famer has already been linked to a variety of top-level positions within the organization, including coach and GM. One would assume that the moment the regular season ends for the Canadiens, they will also be looking for a new head coach, given the tepid support Randy Cunneyworth was given by owner and president Geoff Molson when the whole language issue cropped up after Jacques Martin’s firing earlier this season. Roy will get all the headlines, but if the team wants to move forward, for my money it must look at a guy like Claude Loiselle, who is the assistant general manager in Toronto and has a wealth of team-building experience. Then there is Julien BriseBois, the assistant GM in Tampa who spent nine years with the Habs and knows the team well. As always in Montreal, the new GM won’t necessarily be the best man for the job but the best man for the job who can speak French. Regardless, Thursday marks the continuation of what should be a time of great upheaval for the once-proud franchise.
CUSTANCE: Not a moment too soon, either. I'd add Chicago assistant GM Marc Bergevin's name to the mix, too. There's no shortage of qualified candidates, but if I were in charge, my first call would be to Tampa Bay asking for permission to talk to BriseBois, one of the most impressive young executives in the game. The timing to me is a bit curious. Why the rush to do it now rather than wait until after the season? Whoever takes the job has his work cut out, although key pieces are already in place, like a franchise goalie in Carey Price and a potential franchise defenseman in P.K. Subban. There certainly are worse reclamation projects in the NHL.
But let's move the conversation to teams that are actually relevant right now. The Rangers looked impressive Wednesday night in beating the Jets and are starting to solidify that No. 1 seed in the East. It's looking more and more like we'll see a first-round series between the Flyers and Penguins, with those two teams battling for home ice right now. That's on the line when Pittsburgh plays the Islanders on Thursday night and the Flyers, without Ilya Bryzgalov, take on the Maple Leafs. "We have to stay in front of Philly and get home ice. It's not like it's a given," Penguins forward Chris Kunitz said when we chatted Wednesday. "It gives you the positive feeling of accomplishing something to get into the playoffs. That's the key -- to work towards something."
BURNSIDE: Hard to imagine a first-round matchup that would be more compelling than Philly-Pittsburgh -- unless, of course, it’s Detroit-Nashville, another series that looks pretty much set in stone at this point and one I know you’ll be covering. But it wouldn’t be the Daily Debate without a stop in the Pacific Division, where the division lead seemingly changes on a nightly basis. Wednesday was no different, as the Los Angeles Kings dumped Calgary 3-0, pretty much ending the Flames’ playoff hopes, and jumped back into the top eight, while Dallas knocked off Edmonton 3-1 to move back into the division lead. Jonathan Quick's shutout was his ninth of the season, and he’s tied with Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues for the league lead. Quick is tied for third in goals-against average and fourth in save percentage, and I’m wondering just where the GMs are going to slot Quick when it comes to Vezina Trophy balloting. I think most of us have envisioned Quick on the periphery of the Vezina discussion, with Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne seemingly locked in as the top two candidates. That might not be the case anymore with the Kings’ surge into the playoff picture and with Quick’s solid netminding throughout the season.
CUSTANCE: He certainly deserves consideration. I'd have a hard time prying it from Lundqvist, but the Kings wouldn't be in the playoff mix without Quick's efforts. To me, the most impressive thing has been his consistency. He hasn't had a month in 2012 when his goals-against average finished over 2.00. His worst month this season statistically was in November, when he was 4-5-2 with a 2.43 goals-against average, but even then his save percentage was .924. And I loved that goal from Dustin Brown on Wednesday night. Great spacing from the Kings, and he showed just enough patience to beat Miikka Kiprusoff. Remember those Brown trade rumors on the weekend before the deadline? That seemed to light a fire under him, because he has 17 points in the 16 games since. That's a captain stepping up. I know we've hit the Pacific hard lately in the Daily Debate, but something tells me you and Pierre will keep the streak going Friday morning, because Thursday night's game in Phoenix is absolutely huge. The Coyotes will be well-rested and waiting for a Sharks team coming off another loss to the Ducks. You think Shane Doan will be ready to go after serving his suspension and having to watch the playoff race unfold around him?
BURNSIDE: Oh, I think it’s a safe bet that the outcome of that game will be a topic for discussion Friday morning. The idle Coyotes were pushed out of the top eight, and I don’t think it’s overstating it to suggest a win is imperative to the Yotes’ playoff chances. Getting Doan back after a three-game suspension for a dangerous elbow thrown at Dallas’ Jamie Benn is huge, although the Stars also need Radim Vrbata and Mike Smith to get healthy and back to form, and quickly. The Sharks, meanwhile, continue to confound, looking like a team that could make noise in the playoffs one night and then falling flat the next. On Wednesday they couldn’t come up with enough offense and dropped a 3-1 decision to an Anaheim team whose playoff hopes evaporated some days ago. Those are points you can’t leave on the table if you’re in the Sharks’ position. Finally, how do you see the Boston-Washington showdown unfolding Thursday night? The Caps have to bounce back after having their lunch handed to them at home against Buffalo on Tuesday. The Bruins have quietly gotten back on track after wobbling earlier in the new year and have won three in a row. Is it too early to call this a must-win for the Caps, who trail eighth-place Buffalo by two points with five games to go?
CUSTANCE: No, I don't think it's too early to call it a must-win. And if they lose this game on the heels of a loss to the Sabres and finish outside the playoffs, it will set up a fascinating summer in Washington. You have to assume Dale Hunter won't be back, but what else would GM George McPhee do? Does that core need a severe shake-up? Seems like there's something flawed about that group that I can't quite put my finger on. But the Ca[s are still alive, so we can save the dismantling debate for another day. Good to see the Bruins stabilizing just in time for the playoffs. No surprise that Tim Thomas is in the middle of it. After giving up six goals against Florida in a game you witnessed live, Thomas has allowed a total of eight in his next five games. If he keeps that up, the Bruins will be as dangerous as ever in the playoffs. All right, Scott, it's been fun. Enjoy the games.
• Erik Cole single-handedly gave the Canadiens a 3-0 lead in the first 5:41 of their game against the Senators. It was the fastest hat trick from the start of an NHL game since Jan. 14, 1990, when Calgary’s Brian MacLellan had three goals by the 5:21 mark of the first period in a game at Chicago Stadium.
Cole’s three goals gave him a total of 30 for the season and tied him with fellow American Max Pacioretty for the Canadiens’ team lead. Montreal is the first NHL team to have two U.S.-born players each score 30 or more goals in the same season since 2005-06, when Brian Gionta (48) and Scott Gomez (33) did so for the Devils.
• The Jets overcame a 3-0 deficit to record a 4-3 overtime victory against the Capitals in Washington. It was the fifth time in Thrashers/Jets franchise history that they won a road game in which they trailed by three goals. The four previous instances came when the team was located in Atlanta, with the most recent of those comeback wins coming against the Flyers in Philadelphia on March 12, 2011.
• Drew Stafford scored two goals in the Sabres’ 4-1 win over the Rangers in New York. Stafford has only two multiple-goal games this season and they’ve both come at Madison Square Garden. He scored both Buffalo goals in the Sabres’ 3-2 loss at MSG on Feb. 25. Stafford is only the second player in Sabres history with two multi-goal games in one season at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” Rick Martin had a pair of two-goal games at the Garden for Buffalo in 1974-75.
• The Maple Leafs scored on all three of their shootout attempts against Martin Brodeur, enabling them to leave Newark with a 4-3 win over the Devils after blowing a 3-1 lead in the third period. Brodeur has participated in 62 shootouts during the seven seasons that the NHL has used the tiebreaker. Friday’s game marked only the fourth time that Brodeur allowed three or more goals in one shootout and it was the first time that a team scored on its first three attempts against him.
• R.J. Umberger scored three goals to lead the Blue Jackets to a 5-1 win over the Hurricanes. It was the third hat trick of Umberger’s NHL career and his second for Columbus. (His first three-goal game was for the Flyers in 2007.) Umberger is one of only five players in Blue Jackets history with more than one hat trick. The others are Rick Nash (5), Tyler Wright (3), Geoff Sanderson (2) and Jeff Carter (2).
• Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk was unscored upon in a four-round shootout that earned him a 2-1 win against the Panthers. Dubnyk is 11-6-1 in 18 games since the All-Star break, after posting a 7-11-1 mark in 23 games this season before the break.
Cole’s three goals gave him a total of 30 for the season and tied him with fellow American Max Pacioretty for the Canadiens’ team lead. Montreal is the first NHL team to have two U.S.-born players each score 30 or more goals in the same season since 2005-06, when Brian Gionta (48) and Scott Gomez (33) did so for the Devils.
• The Jets overcame a 3-0 deficit to record a 4-3 overtime victory against the Capitals in Washington. It was the fifth time in Thrashers/Jets franchise history that they won a road game in which they trailed by three goals. The four previous instances came when the team was located in Atlanta, with the most recent of those comeback wins coming against the Flyers in Philadelphia on March 12, 2011.
• Drew Stafford scored two goals in the Sabres’ 4-1 win over the Rangers in New York. Stafford has only two multiple-goal games this season and they’ve both come at Madison Square Garden. He scored both Buffalo goals in the Sabres’ 3-2 loss at MSG on Feb. 25. Stafford is only the second player in Sabres history with two multi-goal games in one season at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” Rick Martin had a pair of two-goal games at the Garden for Buffalo in 1974-75.
• The Maple Leafs scored on all three of their shootout attempts against Martin Brodeur, enabling them to leave Newark with a 4-3 win over the Devils after blowing a 3-1 lead in the third period. Brodeur has participated in 62 shootouts during the seven seasons that the NHL has used the tiebreaker. Friday’s game marked only the fourth time that Brodeur allowed three or more goals in one shootout and it was the first time that a team scored on its first three attempts against him.
• R.J. Umberger scored three goals to lead the Blue Jackets to a 5-1 win over the Hurricanes. It was the third hat trick of Umberger’s NHL career and his second for Columbus. (His first three-goal game was for the Flyers in 2007.) Umberger is one of only five players in Blue Jackets history with more than one hat trick. The others are Rick Nash (5), Tyler Wright (3), Geoff Sanderson (2) and Jeff Carter (2).
• Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk was unscored upon in a four-round shootout that earned him a 2-1 win against the Panthers. Dubnyk is 11-6-1 in 18 games since the All-Star break, after posting a 7-11-1 mark in 23 games this season before the break.
Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers was suspended three games for boarding Canadiens forward Scott Gomez on Monday night.
Myers will lose $14,189.19 in salary.
Myers will lose $14,189.19 in salary.
We asked you to rant again this week and you did not disappoint, my friends! Let’s take a look:
ThePin04: If I could sum up the Habs' season in one word: embarrassing. Oh, wait, do I have to add more in order for it to be considered a rant? OK, here goes. This team is the epitome of failure. The first line, with Plekanec and whoever gets called up for the day, seems like they deserve to score goals as often as Scott Gomez actually scores them. There is no heart in the team, and with the exception of the second line, Plekanec, Eller and some injured players, they seriously need to re-evaluate what the team is doing.
How many games as a healthy scratch will it take P.K. Subban to stop playing selfish hockey and demanding the puck whenever it is in the offensive zone? Do you want to know why the second line is scoring? They don't play as often with Subban and when they do, they don't give him the puck. Seriously, the team was built as a defense-first team (at least for the past few years), with a breakout crew at forward. Do they not remember getting outshot by 20 in the playoffs and still winning the games? It's because of blocked pucks and unselfish hockey (not to mention a goalie standing on his head).
Gauthier kept removing pieces from a solid team until he was left with nothing of the original, and this is why the Habs are in the situation they are in. Dominic Moore, Maxim Lapierre, Tom Pyatt, Jaroslav Halak were in the first batch to go, the energy guys that would keep the stadium going, then Gill, Cammalleri, Kostitsyn, Spacek. I mean, what are they left with to build around? Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Thomas Plekanec? Is that really something you would want to build your team around? The Devils won the Cup in 2003, for those that cannot count, that is 9 years ago. When is enough enough and we just scrap everyone on the roster?
P.S. At least they finally got it right and realize that they are not making the playoffs this year, but the packages received in return were lacking, especially for the near future.
My take: Beauty, eh? Great job on the rant. Once GM Pierre Gauthier traded for Tomas Kaberle earlier this season, I would have axed him right then and there. How he added that brutal contract to a team that already had the contracts of Andrei Markov and Scott Gomez is beyond me. No one knows for sure, the Canadiens are a cone of silence, but most people around the league expect a GM change after the season.
Dead Hex: My beef here is with the tiebreaking procedures. I just don't understand why it makes sense to take away shootout wins before looking at overtime losses. The argument is that shootout wins mean less than a regulation win does, but couldn't you make the argument that an overtime loss means less than a shootout win? Admittedly, I'm not a fan of teams getting points for an overtime loss, after all, a loss is a loss, but if they insist on sticking with it, I think that OTL should be the first tiebreaker, and not wins adjusted without shootout wins.
My take: The NHL’s 30 GMs enacted the ROW tiebreaker rule (it’s in its second year) as a way to minimize the impact of the shootout. It’s the same reason Wings GM Ken Holland would like to see an extra five minutes of overtime added, but three-on-three, in order to end games playing hockey as opposed to the shootout. He represents the vast majority of GMs on that account. They can’t stand the shootout. They know the fans like it, so they’ll live with it, but they don’t want it to decide who makes the playoffs or not. Hence, shootout wins have been eliminated from the tiebreaker formula. I’ve got a better idea: Why don’t we just scrap the shootout?
SumNoob: What is going on in Calgary? I thought this was the time of the year you were supposed to really push! Instead, like last year, they're throwing away a great stretch of hockey that saw them climb up into a playoff spot, just to throw it away and gun for another 9-11 finish. What's the problem? It's not injuries; they have played some solid hockey while missing key players and they are now starting to get back all the key players who were missing. So what is the problem? What are we missing to get the players going? I've seen and heard the way this city comes alive during the playoffs and I'm not asking for another '04 run, I just want a chance to go to my first playoff game. So what is it going to take to get this poor playoff-starved university kid in the Saddledome come the playoffs?
My take: The Flames are like a ’68 Chevy Camaro running on its last fumes. Everything has its time. This core is old. The Flames need a serious retool. With nine pending free agents (6 UFAs, 3 RFAs), GM Jay Feaster will finally have his window to bring more serious change to this roster. And that’s his intention. Sure, the Flames are only three points out of a playoff spot going into Tuesday night’s games, but what exactly are they going to do if they get in? The big picture is what matters here. Time for change in Calgary.
Instinctz1: Something needs to be done to the point system. Isn't winning what matters most? Detroit has 43 wins and is behind St. Louis, which has 2 fewer wins. Same with Vancouver. It's just not right. 43 > 41. change the system to reward winning more!
My take: Clearly you weren’t reading our page last Friday! Once and for all, I went after the NHL’s points system.
jmblumenshine: My rant is simple. Why didn't the Hawks do a package deal for Tim Gleason or Joni Pitkanen and Cam Ward? I think they could have leveraged some of their young talent along with Corey Crawford and gotten a young veteran goaltender who has won a Stanley Cup. Plus, Gleason would be a great replacement for Sean O'Donnell on defense. Every Hawks fan has to realize that with guys like Hayes, Shaw, Morin, Smith and Beach waiting in the wings, Patrick Kane is not long for Chicago. They should have packaged him, an AHL player and/or a draft pick and Crawford. This could be the difference between getting swept by the Yotes and another trip to the Stanley Cup.
My take: Simple answer: The Hurricanes did not make Ward or Gleason available.
lpfanatic54669: What is going on with San Jose? Seriously! My beloved Sharks have put their fans on the biggest roller-coaster ride this season, consistently going up and down the whole way. What has happened to the high-powered offense that we have benefited from at the beginning of the season? I find it hard to believe that EVERY goalie they face is on a hot streak (other than Ryan Miller). Combine that with Niemi's own up-and-down season, and the subpar play of the defense (with and without Douglas Murray), and we stand exactly where we are currently: in 7th place and season slipping through our fingers faster than the Toronto Maple Leafs' season. Is there any hope? Is Havlat really all we need to right this ship, or are the Sharks finally falling apart after sooo many great years?
My take: The Sharks have been really disappointing. Especially in a year when really no one is pushing that hard in the Pacific Division, at least when it comes to the lofty standards San Jose had set over the last several years in that division. But here’s the hope for Sharks fans: Martin Havlat and Douglas Murray return with a big impact for the playoffs, and the Sharks open for once as an underdog seed with no pressure on them. They would be a dangerous low seed, that’s for sure. They’ve gone to back-to-back conference finals, and they’ve knocked out Detroit two years in a row -- this is a team with playoff mettle. The Sharks just have to get there first.
kbattleson: I'm glad to see that there's buzz from Blues fans. What I'm a little tired of, though, is how large-market teams get all the glory and respect from analysts and the NHL themselves even when a smaller-market team is doing really well. Might I remind you that most people at the beginning of the season had the Blues picked for somewhere 8-11 place in the Western Conference. Now? They're in the hunt for the Presidents Trophy. Very little has been said about how good this team is, or "bad" for that matter. But time will only tell with the last month left of regular season and then the playoffs. I hope that not only can the Blues bring home a Cup to the fans in STL, but also open the eyes of others in the league.
AND
courv: You're ranting to the wrong analyst/journalist. LeBrun has been talking about the Blues all season long.
My take: Thank you, courv. Indeed, I predicted the Blues would be playoff-bound back in September. I believed in the makeup of this team. Of course, I didn’t know it would be Ken Hitchcock leading the charge behind the bench instead of Davis Payne. If Hitchcock doesn’t win the Jack Adams Award this season, it’s highway robbery.
Stephen7417: Trading Ben Bishop for a second-round draft pick. Say what you want about the Blues' ownership problems, but a second-round draft pick? The Blues have habitually made bad drafts in the second round, with exception to David Backes, so how can the Blues justify the trade? Did they think they could have a better chance at finding new owners by selling the team at $150 million vs. $151 mil? I just can't rationalize trading a player who waited patiently in the AHL to play for his city and then, instead of being given the chance, was shipped off. I'd rather have Bishop playing in the AHL and helping talented prospects develop until he replaces Elliott.
My take: Bishop was slated to be UFA July 1 before signing a one-year, $650,000 extension upon joining the Senators. With Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott both signed for a few years, it didn’t make much sense to hold Elliott up at No. 3 at 25 years old. A second-round pick is decent value for a goalie with almost no NHL experience. I have no issue with what the Blues did here.
ChazFDC: Caps are so disappointing this year. I really want them to make the playoffs but they don't deserve to. Le sigh ...
AND
sporty7527: It is hard to believe that 2 years ago, the Caps had to most exciting offense in the league and won the Presidents Trophy with a 54-15-13 record for 121 points. I don't even recognize this team anymore. They're not fighting for top spot in the conference, they're fighting just to get in the playoffs.
My take: Is there a more disappointing team in the NHL this season when you consider expectations? Maybe Buffalo, but the Sabres haven’t had the track record of the Capitals as contenders these last few years. The concussion to Nicklas Backstrom cannot be overlooked. He’s their best player, plain and simple. Mike Green’s injury struggles this season have hurt, as well. The goaltending hasn’t been good enough. More than anything though, Alex Ovechkin needs to have a serious look in the mirror this offseason and ask himself how much he wants to win in this league. Because right now he’s not committed at the level it takes a franchise player to deliver night in and night out. He needs to look at Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Toews et al, and realize what it takes to be a leader and superstar.
ThePin04: If I could sum up the Habs' season in one word: embarrassing. Oh, wait, do I have to add more in order for it to be considered a rant? OK, here goes. This team is the epitome of failure. The first line, with Plekanec and whoever gets called up for the day, seems like they deserve to score goals as often as Scott Gomez actually scores them. There is no heart in the team, and with the exception of the second line, Plekanec, Eller and some injured players, they seriously need to re-evaluate what the team is doing.
How many games as a healthy scratch will it take P.K. Subban to stop playing selfish hockey and demanding the puck whenever it is in the offensive zone? Do you want to know why the second line is scoring? They don't play as often with Subban and when they do, they don't give him the puck. Seriously, the team was built as a defense-first team (at least for the past few years), with a breakout crew at forward. Do they not remember getting outshot by 20 in the playoffs and still winning the games? It's because of blocked pucks and unselfish hockey (not to mention a goalie standing on his head).
Gauthier kept removing pieces from a solid team until he was left with nothing of the original, and this is why the Habs are in the situation they are in. Dominic Moore, Maxim Lapierre, Tom Pyatt, Jaroslav Halak were in the first batch to go, the energy guys that would keep the stadium going, then Gill, Cammalleri, Kostitsyn, Spacek. I mean, what are they left with to build around? Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Thomas Plekanec? Is that really something you would want to build your team around? The Devils won the Cup in 2003, for those that cannot count, that is 9 years ago. When is enough enough and we just scrap everyone on the roster?
P.S. At least they finally got it right and realize that they are not making the playoffs this year, but the packages received in return were lacking, especially for the near future.
My take: Beauty, eh? Great job on the rant. Once GM Pierre Gauthier traded for Tomas Kaberle earlier this season, I would have axed him right then and there. How he added that brutal contract to a team that already had the contracts of Andrei Markov and Scott Gomez is beyond me. No one knows for sure, the Canadiens are a cone of silence, but most people around the league expect a GM change after the season.
Dead Hex: My beef here is with the tiebreaking procedures. I just don't understand why it makes sense to take away shootout wins before looking at overtime losses. The argument is that shootout wins mean less than a regulation win does, but couldn't you make the argument that an overtime loss means less than a shootout win? Admittedly, I'm not a fan of teams getting points for an overtime loss, after all, a loss is a loss, but if they insist on sticking with it, I think that OTL should be the first tiebreaker, and not wins adjusted without shootout wins.
My take: The NHL’s 30 GMs enacted the ROW tiebreaker rule (it’s in its second year) as a way to minimize the impact of the shootout. It’s the same reason Wings GM Ken Holland would like to see an extra five minutes of overtime added, but three-on-three, in order to end games playing hockey as opposed to the shootout. He represents the vast majority of GMs on that account. They can’t stand the shootout. They know the fans like it, so they’ll live with it, but they don’t want it to decide who makes the playoffs or not. Hence, shootout wins have been eliminated from the tiebreaker formula. I’ve got a better idea: Why don’t we just scrap the shootout?
SumNoob: What is going on in Calgary? I thought this was the time of the year you were supposed to really push! Instead, like last year, they're throwing away a great stretch of hockey that saw them climb up into a playoff spot, just to throw it away and gun for another 9-11 finish. What's the problem? It's not injuries; they have played some solid hockey while missing key players and they are now starting to get back all the key players who were missing. So what is the problem? What are we missing to get the players going? I've seen and heard the way this city comes alive during the playoffs and I'm not asking for another '04 run, I just want a chance to go to my first playoff game. So what is it going to take to get this poor playoff-starved university kid in the Saddledome come the playoffs?
My take: The Flames are like a ’68 Chevy Camaro running on its last fumes. Everything has its time. This core is old. The Flames need a serious retool. With nine pending free agents (6 UFAs, 3 RFAs), GM Jay Feaster will finally have his window to bring more serious change to this roster. And that’s his intention. Sure, the Flames are only three points out of a playoff spot going into Tuesday night’s games, but what exactly are they going to do if they get in? The big picture is what matters here. Time for change in Calgary.
Instinctz1: Something needs to be done to the point system. Isn't winning what matters most? Detroit has 43 wins and is behind St. Louis, which has 2 fewer wins. Same with Vancouver. It's just not right. 43 > 41. change the system to reward winning more!
My take: Clearly you weren’t reading our page last Friday! Once and for all, I went after the NHL’s points system.
jmblumenshine: My rant is simple. Why didn't the Hawks do a package deal for Tim Gleason or Joni Pitkanen and Cam Ward? I think they could have leveraged some of their young talent along with Corey Crawford and gotten a young veteran goaltender who has won a Stanley Cup. Plus, Gleason would be a great replacement for Sean O'Donnell on defense. Every Hawks fan has to realize that with guys like Hayes, Shaw, Morin, Smith and Beach waiting in the wings, Patrick Kane is not long for Chicago. They should have packaged him, an AHL player and/or a draft pick and Crawford. This could be the difference between getting swept by the Yotes and another trip to the Stanley Cup.
My take: Simple answer: The Hurricanes did not make Ward or Gleason available.
lpfanatic54669: What is going on with San Jose? Seriously! My beloved Sharks have put their fans on the biggest roller-coaster ride this season, consistently going up and down the whole way. What has happened to the high-powered offense that we have benefited from at the beginning of the season? I find it hard to believe that EVERY goalie they face is on a hot streak (other than Ryan Miller). Combine that with Niemi's own up-and-down season, and the subpar play of the defense (with and without Douglas Murray), and we stand exactly where we are currently: in 7th place and season slipping through our fingers faster than the Toronto Maple Leafs' season. Is there any hope? Is Havlat really all we need to right this ship, or are the Sharks finally falling apart after sooo many great years?
My take: The Sharks have been really disappointing. Especially in a year when really no one is pushing that hard in the Pacific Division, at least when it comes to the lofty standards San Jose had set over the last several years in that division. But here’s the hope for Sharks fans: Martin Havlat and Douglas Murray return with a big impact for the playoffs, and the Sharks open for once as an underdog seed with no pressure on them. They would be a dangerous low seed, that’s for sure. They’ve gone to back-to-back conference finals, and they’ve knocked out Detroit two years in a row -- this is a team with playoff mettle. The Sharks just have to get there first.
kbattleson: I'm glad to see that there's buzz from Blues fans. What I'm a little tired of, though, is how large-market teams get all the glory and respect from analysts and the NHL themselves even when a smaller-market team is doing really well. Might I remind you that most people at the beginning of the season had the Blues picked for somewhere 8-11 place in the Western Conference. Now? They're in the hunt for the Presidents Trophy. Very little has been said about how good this team is, or "bad" for that matter. But time will only tell with the last month left of regular season and then the playoffs. I hope that not only can the Blues bring home a Cup to the fans in STL, but also open the eyes of others in the league.
AND
courv: You're ranting to the wrong analyst/journalist. LeBrun has been talking about the Blues all season long.
My take: Thank you, courv. Indeed, I predicted the Blues would be playoff-bound back in September. I believed in the makeup of this team. Of course, I didn’t know it would be Ken Hitchcock leading the charge behind the bench instead of Davis Payne. If Hitchcock doesn’t win the Jack Adams Award this season, it’s highway robbery.
Stephen7417: Trading Ben Bishop for a second-round draft pick. Say what you want about the Blues' ownership problems, but a second-round draft pick? The Blues have habitually made bad drafts in the second round, with exception to David Backes, so how can the Blues justify the trade? Did they think they could have a better chance at finding new owners by selling the team at $150 million vs. $151 mil? I just can't rationalize trading a player who waited patiently in the AHL to play for his city and then, instead of being given the chance, was shipped off. I'd rather have Bishop playing in the AHL and helping talented prospects develop until he replaces Elliott.
My take: Bishop was slated to be UFA July 1 before signing a one-year, $650,000 extension upon joining the Senators. With Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott both signed for a few years, it didn’t make much sense to hold Elliott up at No. 3 at 25 years old. A second-round pick is decent value for a goalie with almost no NHL experience. I have no issue with what the Blues did here.
ChazFDC: Caps are so disappointing this year. I really want them to make the playoffs but they don't deserve to. Le sigh ...
AND
sporty7527: It is hard to believe that 2 years ago, the Caps had to most exciting offense in the league and won the Presidents Trophy with a 54-15-13 record for 121 points. I don't even recognize this team anymore. They're not fighting for top spot in the conference, they're fighting just to get in the playoffs.
My take: Is there a more disappointing team in the NHL this season when you consider expectations? Maybe Buffalo, but the Sabres haven’t had the track record of the Capitals as contenders these last few years. The concussion to Nicklas Backstrom cannot be overlooked. He’s their best player, plain and simple. Mike Green’s injury struggles this season have hurt, as well. The goaltending hasn’t been good enough. More than anything though, Alex Ovechkin needs to have a serious look in the mirror this offseason and ask himself how much he wants to win in this league. Because right now he’s not committed at the level it takes a franchise player to deliver night in and night out. He needs to look at Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Toews et al, and realize what it takes to be a leader and superstar.
What you missed in hot NHL action this weekend. Is it me, or does it feel like the playoffs in here?:
SUNDAY
--The Bruins and the Rangers just flat-out don't like each other. The Rangers won this matchup yet again, beating the Bruins in the alleys and in the rink. Of course, it was a thrilling game to watch, even if it did appall random flickers-by sitting in front of TV after church expecting basketball. If these two teams meet in the playoffs, we'll save a ton of dough in the playoffs on travel -- er, it will be a series worth following. The game also completed a weekend sweep over the Bruins for the teams with "New York" in their names.
--In another made-for-TV tilt between two Original Six teams, the Blackhawks edged the Red Wings, but the Wings lost Vezina candidate Jimmy Howard to what is cagily being called a "lower-body injury." Afterward, he later gave it completely away when he told reporters, "Throughout the period it was just getting tighter and tighter. They decided to take me out." The informed speculation here is that he will loosen his laces before his next start and be just fine.
--Nifty note from Elias: "Jarome Iginla reached the 25-goal mark for the 13th consecutive season when he scored in the third period of the Flames’ shootout loss to the Stars. Iginla is the eighth player in NHL history to score 25 or more goals for at least 13 straight seasons, joining Jaromir Jagr (17 seasons), Mike Gartner (15), Marcel Dionne (14), Bobby Hull (13), Phil Esposito (13), Jean Ratelle (13), and Wayne Gretzky (13) in that exclusive club."
--Atop the league standings: The Rangers. Leading the league in points: Steven Stamkos.
SATURDAY
--The Maple Leafs are now on an unprecedented one-game winning streak under new coach Randy Carlyle after their hard-fought victory over the completely terrible Habs. Now all the Leafs have to do is win every one of their remaining games, while at least three of the teams above them have to lose half of theirs, in order to qualify for the playoffs. (That's a guess.) Regardless, watch for Carlyle to get at least one vote for the Jack Adams, no matter what he does the rest of the season. The Toronto media are crazy that way.
--Under the category of Guys Who Were Talked About A Lot Before The Trade Deadline (I'm working on something catchier), Jeff Carter and Rick Nash led their teams to surprising wins with two goals each.
--As further proof that Saturday was "Opposite Day," the Sabres beat the Canucks. The Curse of The Gilbert Perreault Roulette Wheel haunts Vancouver to this very day.
SUNDAY
--The Bruins and the Rangers just flat-out don't like each other. The Rangers won this matchup yet again, beating the Bruins in the alleys and in the rink. Of course, it was a thrilling game to watch, even if it did appall random flickers-by sitting in front of TV after church expecting basketball. If these two teams meet in the playoffs, we'll save a ton of dough in the playoffs on travel -- er, it will be a series worth following. The game also completed a weekend sweep over the Bruins for the teams with "New York" in their names.
--In another made-for-TV tilt between two Original Six teams, the Blackhawks edged the Red Wings, but the Wings lost Vezina candidate Jimmy Howard to what is cagily being called a "lower-body injury." Afterward, he later gave it completely away when he told reporters, "Throughout the period it was just getting tighter and tighter. They decided to take me out." The informed speculation here is that he will loosen his laces before his next start and be just fine.
--Nifty note from Elias: "Jarome Iginla reached the 25-goal mark for the 13th consecutive season when he scored in the third period of the Flames’ shootout loss to the Stars. Iginla is the eighth player in NHL history to score 25 or more goals for at least 13 straight seasons, joining Jaromir Jagr (17 seasons), Mike Gartner (15), Marcel Dionne (14), Bobby Hull (13), Phil Esposito (13), Jean Ratelle (13), and Wayne Gretzky (13) in that exclusive club."
--Atop the league standings: The Rangers. Leading the league in points: Steven Stamkos.
SATURDAY
--The Maple Leafs are now on an unprecedented one-game winning streak under new coach Randy Carlyle after their hard-fought victory over the completely terrible Habs. Now all the Leafs have to do is win every one of their remaining games, while at least three of the teams above them have to lose half of theirs, in order to qualify for the playoffs. (That's a guess.) Regardless, watch for Carlyle to get at least one vote for the Jack Adams, no matter what he does the rest of the season. The Toronto media are crazy that way.
--Under the category of Guys Who Were Talked About A Lot Before The Trade Deadline (I'm working on something catchier), Jeff Carter and Rick Nash led their teams to surprising wins with two goals each.
--As further proof that Saturday was "Opposite Day," the Sabres beat the Canucks. The Curse of The Gilbert Perreault Roulette Wheel haunts Vancouver to this very day.
Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun break down the deal that sent Andrei Kostitsyn to Nashville, reuniting him with brother Sergei Kostitsyn.
WHO'S DELIVERING THE CHECKS
Scott Burnside
Scott Burnside covers the NHL for ESPN.com. Before joining the website in 2005, he was a reporter for The Windsor Star and Toronto Sun. Burnside also co-authored the best-selling true crime book "Deadly Innocence."
• Follow on Twitter (@ESPN_Burnside)
Pierre LeBrun
Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com, joining the website in Sept. 2008 after spending 13 years with The Canadian Press as its national hockey columnist. He is also a regular panelist for TSN of Canada.
• Follow on Twitter (@Real_ESPNLeBrun)
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in Sept. 2011 to cover the NHL for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. Previously, he covered hockey for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Sporting News.
• Follow on Twitter (@CraigCustance)
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