All Things Hockey, 11/14

All in all, 2009 is getting off to a pretty good start. There have been some exciting games, some good story lines, and some great performances. Unfortunately, though, there has been one storyline that puts something of a damper on the start to 2009.

While there have been plenty of impressive performances on the ice this year, you could put together a pretty impressive all-star team, just with guys who have been kept off the ice thus far. Consider the list of guys who have missed time so far:

Alexander Ovechkin- The best player for the first few weeks of the season was sidelined for reportedly about two weeks, having suffered an upper body injury when he got tied up with Raffi Torres (surprisingly, he was injured without being cheap shoted by Raffi). Ovie could be back by the 11th, and while the time missed shouldn’t keep him away from the leaderboards, but It will make it tough for him to threaten Mike Bossy’s shot record.

Evgeni Malkin- The second half of Pittsburgh’s young star duo, Malkin was off to a slow start for his standards, meaning he was on a tear by most. He had 14 points in 12 games for the Penguins, before going down with a shoulder injury (one of many around the league). Malkin has missed the last four games of the Penguins road trip, on which they are 2-2 (one game was actually a home game, but it was the night after a road game, so essentially part of the trip). Malkin returned Saturday night, much to the delight of Sidney Crosby, whose goal was just his second point in six games since Gino went out of the lineup.

Marc Savard- After quietly being one of the most proficient playmakers in the league, having averaged about 67 helpers a year since the lockout season, Savard is scheduled to miss 4-6 weeks (which would be 2-4 more) after breaking his foot. Boston has struggled to find offense without Savard, especially with injuries to David Krejci and Milan Lucic in addition to Savard, leaving them with serious scoring issues, especially having lost…

Phil Kessel- His Maple Leafs debut was delayed a month with a shoulder injury, which required offseason surgery and kept him out of the Maple Leafs first win and first eleven losses. Kessel is back though, and he has played well, registering just one assist in two games, but firing 10 shots on goal in his first game back. Unfortunately, it is going to take a lot more than one guy to get the Maple Leafs to respectability.

Ilya Kovalchuk- The Russian was off to a blistering start in Atlanta, netting 9 goals in just 8 games, before blocking a shot and breaking his foot against San Jose. Kovalchuck’s return is still up in the air, but it will almost definitely be a couple more weeks at least for the Thrashers captain.

Marian Hossa- The Hawks have yet to put the prolific scorer on the United Center ice yet, after having signed him to a 10 year deal this summer. Hossa is questionable to return this month, also with a shoulder ailment.

Johnathan Toews- After being lit up by last issues hit of the weeks, Toews has been said to be questionable for the Blackhawks last few games with an “upper body injury,” probably a concussion, but he has missed all of them.

Johan Franzen- Last year, Franzen had completed his transformation from role player to impact player for the Wings. This year, offseason knee surgery has kept him out of every game, and will likely do so until January at least. The Wings have struggled without him, but he is nowhere near ready to be back.

Marian Gaborik- Not really surprising that Gaborik has seen time out of the lineup, he has been notoriously injury prone throughout his career. Luckily for the blueshirts though, he has been as advertized when healthy, scoring 21 points in 15 games. Just as importantly, his injury problems don’t appear to be severe, since he missed just two games, and has since returned from a right leg injury.

Roberto Luongo- One of the premier goaltenders in the league, Luongo will be expected to be a cornerstone in Vancouver, and he likely will, but for now, he is out at least for a few more days (having missed the last 6 games with a rib injury.

Danny Briere, Simon Gagne- Two of Philly’s best players, both of whom out for at least a couple of more games, both with groin ailments. Briere’s is close to healed, but Gagne will likely be out for more than a month still. Philly has had the slack picked up by Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, among others, but they will need to get these two back to remain where they want to be in the east.

Eric Staal- Stall had been key in carrying a Carolina team that was seeing little secondary scoring. He went down to an “upper body injury.” It is unclear when exactly the struggling Canes, also missing Cam Ward will get their captain back, but they definitely need him, because without Staal, they simply don’t have the firepower to make a run back into contention.

Those are the biggest names who have sat out a bit (although the most suprising part isnt that any of them have been hurt, but that Martin Havlat hasn’t). That is hardly an exhaustive list, just the highlights. Others who have missed time this year include

Kari Lehtonen

Ray Whitney

Ben Eager

JM Liles

Sheldon Souray

David Booth

Petr Sykora

PM Bouchard

Andrei Markov

JP Dumont

Shea Weber

Rob Niedermayer

Paul Martin

Rick DiPietro (unsurprisingly)

Henrik Lundqvist

Chris Drury

James van Riemsdyk

Ed Jovanovski

Sergei Gonchar

Joe Pavelski

Devin setoguchi

Rob Blake

Victor Hedman

Daniel Sedin

Pavol Demitra

Mike Green

That is a solid 40 names, almost all of which at least have a shot to be all stars, that have missed time this year. Granted, some of the injuries have been day to day type of stuff, but it warrents mentioning. There really isn’t a conclusion to be drawn here, it isn’t like this is due to a chronic rash of concussions or knee injuries that require equipment or rule changes. It is just an observation that I found interesting.

Leaf Burning

The Toronto Maple Leafs are bad.

You know what? That isn’t even a strong enough statement, the Leafs are horrible. Toronto won’t set the all-time low for points in a season, currently owned by the 1975 Capitols, and they probably won’t even set the record of only 8 wins, also held by that Caps team. The reason, though, isn’t parody, it isn’t the salary cap, and it certainly isn’t because the Leafs aren’t bad enough. The only reason, in my opinion, that the Leafs wont threaten all-time futility records is because of rule changes that give teams ties for OT losses, and wins in the shootout.

Right now, the Leafs have 3 wins, and 11 points in 16 games, after a surge following Phil Kessel’s return. As hard as it is to believe, sitting at 28^th in the NHL, the Leafs are playing well above themselves. Unfortunately, getting Phil Kessel back gives them exactly two above average NHLers. Looking through their roster, the Leafs are made up almost entirely of marginal NHL players. Realistically, they have four forwards (Kessel, Jason Blake, Niklas Hagman and Lee Stempniak) who could crack the top four lines of most NHL teams. On D, Kaberle and Komisearek are solid second pair guys, collectively making up the first D pair. Luke Schenn is going to be a force, but would be in most NHL farm systems at this point in his career.

Realistically, the Leafs, who have already had their share of OT tilts, will grab around 13-15 wins (buoyed by 4-5 shootout wins), and around 30 points, some for OT losses that they wouldn’t have gotten if they were playing in the pre-rule-change era of the 75 Capitals. That doesn’t mean that one of the NHL’s most storied franchises isn’t historically bad though.

They most certainly are.

GOAL OF THE WEEKS

It goes to the New York Islanders. Jeff Tambellini, on the first of his three goals Halloween Night against the Sabers, certainly made an excellent and flashy effort, but it was the all around brilliance that gives this the GOTWs award.

Right around the midway point of the second period, the Isles’ Sean Bergenheim won the race to a hard wrap in the left corner. Bergenheim circled behind the net and Tambellini, trailing the play, went towards the right post.

After circling behind the net, the lefty swung to his backhand (towards the end boards), and fired a centering pass towards Ryan Miller in the Buffalo net. Tambellini redirected the pass off of Miller’s pads, where it sat as Tambellini skated past the puck. With his skates behind the goal line, Tambellini put his stick between his legs, and knocked it over Miller’s pad, short side, for the first leg of the hat trick.

HIT OF THE WEEKS

The Maple Leafs are certain to be happy to have Phil Kessel back in the lineup, and in the midst of his stellar first game back, Matthius Ohlund welcomed him back himself.

Kessel took the puck into the zone, and while his head wasn’t down, his attention was elsewhere, and the Swede who made his name in Vancouver took advantage. Chaos, as it often does, ensued.

GAME OF THE WEEKS

This one is a no brainer. Wednesday night, the Caps took on the Islanders in the District. Not a great matchup necessarily on paper, but it turned out to be a dandy.

Alex Semin took a pass almost literally off of the opening face off, and ripped a yapper top blocker from the wing, beating Dwayne Roloson to give the Caps a 1-0 lead just 0:08 into the game. A line change later, though, the Islanders struck back when Matt Moulson put a juicy Semyon Varlamov rebound top shelf, and it was 1-1 just 62 seconds into the contest. About 4 minutes later, Mark Streit and Sean Bergenheim registered back to back tallies just 1:44 apart, giving the Long Island squad a 3-1 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first period.

Tomas Fleischmann gave the Capitals life in the crazy first period though. After Jon Sim took a holding penalty, Fleischmann banged home a PP tally off of a broken rush, where a Nick Backstrom dangle got broken up, but found the Czech’s stick, and he made it 3-2 at the first break.

In the second period, the scoring continued 5 and a half minutes in, when Semin took a Mike Green pass, and beat Roloson for the second time, tying the game at 3. Then, with 4 minutes and change left, the Mathieu Perreault, Brooks Laich and Chris Clark broke in 3-3. Clark swung the puck from the left point to Laich at the bottom of the left circle, who swung and fired a backhand at net. Roloson got a pad on it, but Perrault beat his backchecker to the slot, and put away the rebound, giving the Caps a 4-3 lead.

It appeared that they wouldn’t relinquish that advantage, and while a couple of outstanding Roloson saves kept the Islanders in it, Varlomov and the Washington D appeared up to the task. A key penalty kill with just 5 minutes left looked like it had iced it, but the Caps took another penalty almost immediately, giving New York one last chance. On the ensuing penalty, Trent Hunter took a cross ice pass breaking into the zone. He turned to look for a pass, but when he didn’t see a teammate open, he continued his turn, faced Varlamov and let one rip. A bar-down, top glove rocket later, the game was tied, and it was headed to overtime.

As with any 5 minute segment of 4-4 hockey, OT saw a number of chances, but no one could find the twine, and a shootout was imminent.

The first bit of drama came in round three. A Tambellini goal would be enough for an Islander victory if Roloson could stop Semin. Semin went forehand-backhand-shelf, though, and forced the extra frame. Varlamov and Roloson then went on to stop the next 17 attempts, including a crossbar for Frans Nielson that would have iced it. Finally, in the 11^th round, Chris Clark used his third career shootout attempt to rip a wrist shot past Roloson for his first career shootout goal. A Varlamov save on Streit then ended one of the longest shootouts in the 5 year history of the tie-breaker.

PASS OF THE WEEKS

There is good news, and there is bad news for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The good news is that they got two of the best of the weeks awards (this being the second), the bad being that these are likely to be the only two things they win all season.

At any rate, the pass of the week was a beaut by Ryan Malone. Already up 4-0 on the Senators on the 29^th of October, Malone took the puck through the slot, skating towards the top of the circle. From the faceoff dot, he took a quick glance, then threw it back through three Senators to Tanguay, standing at the far post for an empty netter, his first gino as a Bolt.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

I’m introducing a new section this edition, as I will probably do a lot as I find out what works and what doesn’t for this column (feedback always welcome). Each column, or at least most of them, I am going to throw out one question, usually something sort of theoretical or philosophical, that I think is interesting. If you don’t know what I mean by that, just read this weeks, and I think it will make sense.

This week, I’m throwing out a question I already asked a few friends. I talked last week about how Ovechkin has been insane this year, and he has done nothing thus far to prove me wrong. As I write this, Ovechkin has 13 goals, and it isn’t even November yet (I am writing on 10/29, about 10 days before I post this). He had two in the first period tonight to get himself to that ridiculous figure. The guy is just ridiculously skilled. There are probably other guys you could ask this about, but it would seem silly not to start with Ovie.

The question is this: What amount of money would you have to be offered, in order to take it over Alexander’s game? Thinking about this, my number would have to be in the 10 figures. I think I would probably take around 1.5 B, and I am completely serious. I admit, however, that I am something of a hockey nerd, so the average person would probably be somewhat lower. I would set the question at $500 M.

Before you balk at the figures, you need to realize, that if you have Ovechkin’s skills (take out any other traits for the sake of the discussion), and you play your cards anywhere close to right, you can make a few hundred million dollars. At any rate, unless you completely mess up, money will not be an issue in your life time. The question comes down to how set up your family would have to be in coming generations for it to be worth it. I figure I can probably spend about $500 M if I try, a number that is pretty lofty to begin with, so the answer for me is set up to the tune of 1 billion dollars. He is that good.

(The only thing I could imagine spending more than that on that wouldn’t qualify as an investment would be a professional sports team, and anyone in their right mind would rather be the best player on a team than the owner, hence the 300 m figure not being higher.)

SHORTER HOCKEY THOUGHTS

- Cruising Ustream last week, I came across the Penguins/Canadians game on RDS. Before I noticed that it was on RDS (the French version of TSN), I decided that I would make that the sound game. Obviously, it didn’t take long to realize that I wasn’t going to be able to understand it (I don’t speak a word of French), but I decided to keep the sound on anyways. It really was thoroughly enjoyable. First of all, I just enjoy listening to hockey. What is better than the slicing of skates on ice, the click clack of pucks and sticks, and the crunch of the boards? Say nothing of the crowds.
Beyond that, I can’t help but be entertained by the French itself. You’re telling me it isn’t at least a little bit funny that Hal Gill just got a penalty for retarde la partie? I also can’t help but find humor in a steady flow of French interrupted by Russian or blatantly American names. Obviously you wouldn’t want to watch every game in French, but once in a while it can be one of the more entertaining features of NHL Center Ice.

- Malkin looks like he is over handling the puck. Dude clearly has hands, and it leads to some highlight goals, but it seems like there are times when he has a chance to move his feet and beat a defenseman, but instead will attempt to thread it through the defender. When it works, it is obvious, and you see it on sportscenter, but there are times that for Malkin, less could be more.

- Jimmy Howard looks, frankly, terrible. His rebound control is awful, and last week in Edmonton, he was sliding all over the place. He is a guy with a Patrick Roy style (not caliber) skill set, and he is trying to flop around like Dominik Hasek. It seems to be because he is fighting the puck, not necessarily just because he is lost out there, but every single one of the 5 goals he gave up were a result of him overplaying the puck. He clearly has no confidence. Detroit needs to make a goaltending move, and fast.

- Not so much a hockey thought, as much as a note about this column. I really like writing this sort of thing, and I will continue to do so. Unfortunately, the man is trying to keep it down, by which I mean it is increasingly difficult to catch hockey games online without paying $180, which I can’t afford, to get the center ice online package. Hockeywebcasts.com is now listing almost exclusively the team audio feeds and the yahoo games, and more and more searches on the streaming websites are coming up empty. I understand and don’t have a problem with this, since it is completely legitimate for the NHL, cable networks or whoever has been behind the crackdown to restrict people getting access for free, when they are trying to sell the same product, but it will mean that I just can’t watch as much hockey as I had been before. The takeaway is pretty simple. I am going to keep writing this, but it will probably be shorter, and unfortunately, will come from watching fewer games, and more highlights. Oh well.

TOP 8/ bottom eight

On the Up

8. Calgary- There are a few teams that could be put here, but of the teams clustered in the 25-27 point range, only the Flames have the deepest blueline in the league, so I am giving them the nod.

7. Buffalo- The Sabers have played their way atop the Northeast, albeit a northeast with a struggling Boston, a dismal Toronto and Ottawa, and a mediocre Montreal. Ryan Miller has been keeping them there, leading the league in save percentage and goals against, making him the favorite for the Team USA job, over a Tim Thomas who has had issues after signing his lucrative contract extension.

6. Chicago- A theme will be teams that will be suffering, or else keeping up despite injuries. The Blackhawks lead the central despite still waiting for Hossa’s shoulder to recover, and playing without a concussed Johnathan Toews.

5. Colorado- After 10 games, last time I did this poll, I wasn’t ready to take the Aves seriously. After 20 though, too much hockey has been played not to regard the standings. With the Aves sitting in second in the west, they need to be mentioned amongst the contenders, if not the favorites.

4. Washington- After almost two weeks of Ovechkinless hockey, the Capitals are still atop the Southeastern division (no surprise), but also tied atop the east with 28 points through 20 games. Semin and Backstrom have stepped up to carry the load for Bordreau’s team, a pleasant surprise for a team that still has defense issues.

3. New Jersey- The Devils have earned the top spot in the East as I type this, but they are still number two in their division, as far as these rankings go. Sure, they have beaten the Pens twice, but I have my reasons for thinking the Penguins are better, and they are my rankings. So there.

2. Pittsburgh- The Penguins have relinquished the division lead to the Devils, but I am going to keep them above New Jersey, since they are essentially locked up atop the Atlantic, but the Penguins have done so without Malkin, and with a struggling Crosby, two things that are likely to change in their favor. Ultimately, I need to be shown that New Jersey is going to be a better team, and that hasn’t happened yet.

1. San Jose- Am I a biased? Absolutely, but let’s be honest. The Sharks have been on a 4 week tear now, in which they have brought themselves to the highest point total in the league. I am by no means objective about it, but the Sharks have earned this spot.

On the Down

23. Ducks- Too talented to be on this list, but they earned it. They really need to get their goaltender situation ironed out though, they pay Guigerre way too much to keep him as a backup.

24. Stars- Sure, they just beat the team that I have at #1, but Dallas’s 6 points off of OT losses have them at an inflated position in the standings.

25. Florida- Playing a little bit worse than their talent, but not a whole lot.

26. Senators- What is it that has kept the Sens out of the basement? Regular games against Toronto and Carey Price, as far as I can tell (I’m on the train and can’t look that up, but let’s just assume that it’s true).

27. Minnesota- I guess I want to keep them out of the bottom despite their position at the bottom of the west because of Brent Burns. Or maybe it is the nice unis. Either way, I do, but they are terrible.

28. St. Louis- Should be better, but they just aren’t. Last year they put it together, but I don’t see them in the postseason with Keith Tkachuk and Paul Kariya on the PP. Unless it is 1998.

29. Carolina- Injuries and issues have given the Canes the fewest points in the league (14 games without a win…), but….

30. Toronto- I can’t not put a team as bad as the leafs in last. They are terrible. They wouldn’t win the Calder Cup.

AWARD WATCH

MVP

It is hard to say that anyone has distinguished themselves, so I am going to go with Ovechkin, since he has played like the best player in the league by a margin. I hate to have him here having missed most of the period this covers, but no one else has taken the mantle.

Honorable Mention- Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrick Marleau, Anze Kopitar.

Vezina

Ryan Miller leads the league in save percentage, goals against and wins. The Sabers are good, but not particularly talented or deep, but in third in the East. I would never expect to have a clear favorite for Vezina at the 20 game mark, but that’s exactly what Miller is.

Honorable Mention- Craig Anderson, Ilya Bryzgalov

Calder

Tavares is a pure goal scorer. Barring injury, he won’t score fewer than 35 in his career. He could get 60. Just an incredible instinct around the net, he has a knack for keeping the play in front of him, and finding a seam to create chances.

Honorable Mention- James VanRiemsdyk, (pretty solid gap) Michael Del Zotto, Jason Demers

Still not ready to comment on any of the others…

NON-NHL UPDATE

Couple more weeks… I still haven’t had a chance to follow too much NCAA or CHL.

WHAT I’M WATCHING FOR

(follow up)

Last weeks turned out as well as it could have. Marleau and Buffalo have stayed at the top of their games, as I was curious to see if they would. As for Sharks-Pens, San Jose made a statement with a 5-1 win, making them the clear cut favorite at the ¼ mark of the season.

Team

Detroit- They have climbed into a playoff spot, which doesn’t surprise me (if you follow hockey, you would be crazy to expect them to linger at 11-13 in the West), but I think that the 6-7 area where they are now is where they will stay, but It wouldn’t shock me if they went on a run. I will be curious to see where they are in 2-3 weeks.

Player

I’m really just looking to see who can get healthy and make an impact. If pressed about a healthy guy who has been in the lineup, I want to see if Anze Kopitar is going to remain an elite guy.

But the fact is, Ilya Kovalchuk has 13 goals in 10 games. He is back in the lineup, and I want to know if he can keep it up.

(that was like 40 players…sorry)

All Things NHL, 10/25

It has now been about 3 weeks since the puck dropped on both sides of the pond, putting us a little more than an eighth of the way through the season, and already a few story lines have started to emerge.
Among them are:

How deep do the issues go in Detroit?

Can Alex Ovechkin put up numbers to top what we have seen in the last two decades?

Is Sidney Crosby developing as a goal scorer, rather than the playmaker he has been in his first three years?

And is this the best crop of rookies since the post lockout Crosby-Ovechkin year?

All of those are important questions, which I will get to, but in my mind, there is one question that sticks out thus far in the 2009-2010 season. That question; is there a single dominant team in the NHL? There isn’t one team that sticks out, but let’s take a look at the contenders.

Pittsburgh- The champs are the obvious place to start, but to be honest, this team just doesn’t feel like a dynasty from what I have seen. The reasons to think that they could be are obvious, Crosby and Malkin are just going to get stronger as their top guys, players like Maxim Talbot and Jordan Staal are going to improve as secondary scorers, and Marc-Andre Fleury is only 24, anchoring the Black and Gold in net. Despite this, Pittsburgh has two problems.
The first is that I’m just not sold on their depth. Obviously it is hard to do better than Crosby and Malkin anchoring your attack, but over 82 games, many are bound to come down to the third and fourth lines. In my opinion, the Pens go about five forwards deep in terms of guys who can be expected to put up significant production (Crosby, Malkin, Staal, and Chris Kunitz). Beyond that, however, there isn’t anyone that you would bet on a 40 point season from. It wouldn’t shock to see Bill Guerin put up one more good campaign, or Tyler Kennedy step up and throw out some offense, but those are long shots, and you certainly wouldn’t bank on career role players like Ruslan Fedatenko and Matt Cooke or unproven entities like Chris (son of Ray) Bourque and Maxim Talbot (skilled, but has yet to break 30 points in the NHL) to step up.
(Two asides on their lack of depth:
1. I don’t think that you can absolutely bank on Jordan Staal for production either. He has averaged just under 40 points through his first three years, and didn’t crack the top 100 in scoring last year despite a career high in points, making him a decent fourth scorer, but not much better so far in his career. I’m not saying he is a bad player, just a bit overrated because of the name on his jersey. On the other hand, he is only 21, so I am not writing him off as a potential star.
2. I started that list of four with seven, but looking at their numbers last year, had to cut it down to five. Really, beyond Crosby and Malkin it isn’t an impressive crop offensively. 71 and 87 picked up a lot of the slack last year and will need to do so again.)
The second problem for the Pens is on the blue line. I really think that while Kunitz provides an excellent secondary scoring punch and some well needed grit, in the long run, trading Ryan Whitney will hurt. (Don’t get me wrong they got a cup out of the deal, which made them better in 2009, and should absolutely have done it, but it may not make them better in 2010, 2011 and beyond) Whitney was an extremely skilled defenseman, and the trade left them with one sure thing in Brooks Orpik, a emerging stalwart, one potential developing star in Kris Letang, an aging leader in Sergei Gonchar, who I am unsure will be productive much longer, and three question marks. Those slots will be filled with a combination of youngsters Alex Goligoski (split time between Scranton and Pittsburgh last year), former Dartmouth Big Green (and Deerfield Fightin’ Doors) standout and AHL All-Star a year ago Ben Lovejoy and (in my opinion) mediocre veterans Mark “The Pride of Wilmington Delaware” Eaton, Jay McKee and Martin Skoula. Not a particularly inspiring bunch.
Am I nitpicking here? Absolutely, but to say you expect a team to be dominant it should be a little bit harder than that to nitpick. I’m not saying the Penguins aren’t good, or even that they shouldn’t be considered the favorite (although I’m not saying that myself), only that they are not exactly a force quite yet.

Detroit- The most successful franchise of my lifetime (the past 20 years) certainly in hockey, perhaps in sports definitely needs to be considered among the elite, at least until it is proven that they don’t belong there. This year, though, I see them taking a step back. More on that later.

San Jose- I have made no secret about it, I do not pretend to be objective when it comes to the Sharks. Being as objective as I can, though, I really think that the Sharks have the best chance to be a dominant team in 2009-2010. The Sharks have more than enough scoring if they stay healthy. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to see 45 or more points from at least 5 of the 6, perhaps all 6 of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi, Dany Heatley, Dan Boyle, Joe Pavelski, Ryan Clowe and even Rob Blake (sounds crazy, but consider 3 points through 6 games, 45 last year…less so at least for the 40 year old future HOFer).
As with the Penguins, depth is the issue. Boyle, Blake and Marc-Eduard Vlasic are all good enough to be in Team Canada contention, but major questions loom for the Sharks about the 5 and 6 slot on the blueline. These are only going to get worse if Doug Murray can’t recover quickly from what has been rumored to be swine flu. Youngsters will certainly fill out the slots, but there is any number of directions that coach McLellan could go with them.
Derik Joslin and training camp standout Jason Demers (who seems fairly entrenched, and has seen time on special teams) were in the lineup for Thursday night’s showdown in Washington, but other youngsters like Nick Petrecki and Mike Moore (excellent move, by the way, going with Mike rather than Michael) could potentially be called up to the big club. While all of these guys project to be good NHL defensemen, thus far only Demers has given them reason to believe that he is ready to not only stand in, but contribute to the D core.
Sharks fans were extremely harsh on Christian Ehrhoff, but the more astute patrons of HP Pavilion will likely miss his anticipation playing the rush (not many players were better at anticipating the dump in, and a large reason for the animosity was the glaring turn overs the Germany native was prone to, but they were largely a function of Ehrhoff being so adept at getting back to the puck and starting the play up ice, making the turnovers he did make much more obvious, but ultimately being invaluable to the breakout). While Lukowich never brought a whole lot to the table, and the salary dump enabled the Heatley deal, losing Ehrhoff may hurt (although having defended him countless times to less enlightened Sharks fans, his point per game pace in a bigger role in Vancouver is somewhat vindicating).
Up front, primary and secondary scoring aren’t an issue, but the third and fourth lines still leave some to be desired. With Pavelski and Tori Mitchell out of the lineup, and longtime cog Mike Grier back in Buffalo, summer additions Jed Ortmeyer, Manny Malhotra and Scott Nichol will need help from a number of largely unproven Sharks. McLellan will need a combination of skilled guys like Benn Ferriero, Steven Zalewski, and possibly Logan Coture or Ryan Vesche (who are currently in Worchester) and grittier guys like Frazer McLaren and Brad Staubitz if they are going to have success beyond the Marleau and Thornton lines. It could happen, but it is way too early to say it will.

Washington- Possibly the most skilled team in the NHL, a combination like Alex Semin, Niklas Backstrom and Ovechkin with Mike Green on the point is terrifying. On the other hand, Brooks Laich Matt Bradley and David Steckel isn’t quite as intimidating, and the likes of those three will need to produce quite a bit for the Caps to really contend for the President’s Trophy this year.
More importaintly, you probably haven’t heard of anyone on their blueline not named Mike Green (maybe Milan Jurcina or Tom Poti, but the point stands). Add that to shakey goaltending, as Varlamov has underwealmed this year after a strong post season last spring, opening the door for Jose Theodore to play in 6 of their first 8 games, just a few months after they decided he wasn’t the guy to take them to the cup. The end result is a good team, extraordinarily talented team at the top end, but with major issues, that will need a lot of guys to step up (and maybe an acquisition or two) if they want to be mentioned at the top of the NHL.

New York Rangers- Not a team that I even would have included on the list going into the season, but they have played as well as anyone, and deserve to at least be mentioned. Depth at the forward position isn’t an issue, but beyond Gaborik, I don’t see anyone who looks poised to score more than 25 goals this year. The back end is solid but not spectacular in front of Lundqvist, who is cabable of being not just solid but spectacular. They are off to a good start, but I definitely see them as the 4 seed (at best) in their own conference when it is all said and done.

Beyond those teams, you have squads like New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, Vancouver and Calgary, all of whom have legitimate cup hopes in 2009. But none need to be mentioned in the conversation of “is there a dominant team.”
So to answer the original question, I really don’t think there is. I am, by all means, willing to admit to nitpicking here. These are all very good teams. The problem is that to be a great NHL team you need to be able to withstand the nitpick test. Right now, no one can do that

Piling On- More Problems in Michigan

The Wolverines are in the midst of what appears to be their second consecutive of spread-option-with-smash-mouth-players mediocrity, The Tigers couldn’t get out of the ALDS, the car industry is in trouble and the Lions are the Lions. Now, the residents of Michigan have yet another problem. The Red Wings are better than the 10 spot they occupy in the West, but I am not sure by how much.
This year’s Red Wings has serious issues. The first of which is clear and simple. Chris Osgood has always played great when it matters, but he is old and truth be told, was never a great player, just very good in the playoffs. The fact is, though, he isn’t going to get it done for the Red Wings between the pipes in 2009. It is no secret that the Red Wings had hoped to turn the franchise over to former Maine goaltender Jimmy Howard, but in the two games he has played this year, he has been quite frankly dismal. The end result is that the Red Wings are left with two goalies with save percentages below .900, and will probably need to make a move in net if they are going to have any chance to contend this season.
Their problems go past goaltending though. In order to contend, a team needs their best players to play like their best players. For Detroit, at least at forward, that meand Pavel Datsyuk and Henrick Zetterburg. So far, through 8 games, they have combined for exactly 1 goal. That simply won’t get it done. Detroit notoriously finds production from call ups like Darren Helm or Justin Abdekader, but those kind of players can only provide depth. Detroit lost 40 goals from Marian Hossa, 23 from Jiri Hudler, and doesn’t know when they will see the 34 from Johan Franzen again. Because of that, Detroit needs to see production from those two if they are going to have any chance to compete this season. They well could, but the Red Wings are no longer a sure thing in Detroit or atop the NHL standings.

Ovie Sports?

So…this 8 character…strong skater. In all seriousness, I think it is high time that we put aside any differences we have with Mr. Ovechkin as a nation, and christen him the best goal scorer that we have seen in my life time (the past 20 years). Watching Oveckin play against the Sharks last Thursday night was a truly exhilarating and terrifying experience. Every time Ovechkin picks up the puck, no matter where he is on the rink, he seems to find a way to pick up space and speed.
There are guys who rack up a ton of shots because they will put it on net from anywhere, whenever they can (not that this is a bad thing). While he certainly loves to shoot, Ovechkin, who leads the league with over 7.2 a game (a pace that would shatter Phil Esposito’s record of 550 in a season) is not one of those guys. Alex is such a great player, his shots are a result of getting into a position where he can create a shot on goal every time he picks up the puck. He really should lead the league in both goals and shots for a long time because he is so good with the puck, even racking up assists despite not necessarily being a plus passer because of where he leaves it. It isn’t even fair to call him flashy, he is just incredibly quick and skilled. Impossible as it sounds, he has come a long way in the past year as a player, and is still getting better. At this point, I would be much less surprised if #8 doesn’t score 60 than if he scores 70. He is that good.
So that was my disgustingly gushing review of unquestionably the best goal scorer in the world. I am not prepared to call him the best player, because I still think Crosby does more things for his team, but Ovechkin has come in to his own offensively that no one could have seen coming, good as he was in his first couple of years.

Crosby Finding the Net?

It will come as no surprise to anyone who follows hockey that Sidney Crosby is in the midst of the scoring race, with 10 points in the Penguins first 10 games. What will come as a surprise, is that in that time he has registered 6 goals and just 4 assists. With the exception of the year he missed 29 games, Crosby has been over 100 points each year he has been in the league. Despite this, some have questioned whether he is an elite goal scorer, with his career high of 39 coming in his rookie year. While Crosby is shooting a lot, having watched a number of Penguins games, it doesn’t seem to be the result of any sort of philosophical change by Crosby.
Rather, Crosby simply seems to be developing (not unlike Ovechkin) to the effect that he has the puck more often in scoring position. This is a logical and natural progression for Sidney. He certainly has the talent to top 40 goals, and he will probably find 50 at some point in his career. The assists number is likely to rise, as Crosby is a once in a generation playmaker, but as Crosby becomes a better player, don’t expect it to be at the expense of his goal number.

Standard Deviations

Just glancing at the standings shows a few interesting trends, although they may or may not actually be meaningful. Obviously, the teams that are present are the most interesting part, but it is ultimately too early to buy anything into that. Sure, you can look at Colorado’s hot start, or the fact that the Heatley-less Senators are in contention in the east, but really until about November 15th, it is officially too early to care.
The thing that caught my eye though was the distribution of teams, and the difference between the two conferences. In the West, Colorado actually has pulled out of the pack slightly, but beyond that, just two points separate the 2 spot from the 10. Out east, you have teams with 18 and 14 points (New York and Pittsburgh respectively), and the team in 9th place (Montreal) has just 10. There are also 2 teams below 5 points in the east, none in the west.

There really isn't anything to take from this, except maybe the possibility that there will be a tighter race on the frontier conference. Really, though, it is just something I thought was interesting, and it is too early to say that there are any real implications.

Homer Point of the Week- My take on San Jose

There are plenty of things I could talk about right now, since even though the W-L record isn’t quite where I would like to see it, there are 4 guys who are off to phenomenal starts, but to me the most interesting thing is the guy we used to know as the captain.
I was always a proponent of keeping Marleau with the captaincy. I wasn’t thrilled, frankly, when the C got taken off of his chest. I am happy to say, at this point, that I was wrong. I still think that Marleau is a leader on the team, and I think that anyone in the room would agree, but without the letter, Marleau is playing like a weight has been lifted.
Even without the center he started the year with, Marleau is looking primed for a career year. As I write this, he is tied with the two guys I am raving about as the best goal scorers of our lifetime (the second is down in the quick thoughts) for the league lead at 9 goals. Patty is unquestionably benefited from having two elite goal scorers, and perhaps the best playmaker in the league, on the Sharks top line, taking away the oppositions top defenders, but he is also playing the best hockey of his life, night in and night out. Marleau has points in 8 of the Sharks 12 games, and multiple points in 5 of them.
I saw something I found very interesting a few weeks ago with regards to Marleau. When asked who the best player on the Sharks was, Dany Heatley responded without hesitation, naming Marleau. I am really starting to believe that Marleau could be one of the 5 or 6 best players in the world, and that despite the production he has unquestionably brought in San Jose, he has underachieved the last few years. He took the captaincy right as he should have entered his prime, and it will be interesting to see if he becomes an even more productive player now that it is gone. Here’s hoping that I wasn’t just wrong about wanting him to keep the C, but way, way off.

GOAL OF THE WEEKS

Maxim Afinogenov, I have said many a time, is the most skilled 20 goal scorer in the National Hockey League. His career high is 23 goals for the Sabers, but of the 15-23 goals a year that he puts in the net, he looks like an all-world goal scoring talent on 2-3 of those a year. He is in Atlanta now, down from Buffalo, but nothing has changed. He has just two assists and one goal in six games so far but boy, is it a dandy.
With about 3:30 left in last Saturday’s game with Maxim’s old squad, the Russian swung across the defensive zone, picking up the puck along the blueline, and swinging to the boards as he picked up speed through the neutral zone. He went into the zone 1 on 2, and when Sabers defenseman Henrik Tallinder picked up the trailing Vyacheslav Koslov, 19 year old rookie Tyler Myers was overmatched on the ensuing 1 on 1. Afinogenov went from the outside, drew the puck through Myers, walking around him easily, and slipping to the net, roofing it past Patrick Lalim’s glove before Tallinder could get over and help Myers.
The goal received a fair smattering of boos from Afinoganov’s old fans, but personally I look forward to the 17 more goals he will get this season, 10 of which will be almost as extraordinary.



PASS OF THE WEEKS
From Afinogenov’s old chum, Derek Roy. On October 13th against the Red Wings, Roy picked up the puck with space in his own zone. Looking up ice from the top of his own left faceoff dot, Roy saw a streaking Thomas Vanek, but also saw 3 Red Wings blocking his passing lane. With a nifty toe drag, Roy flipped the puck over two outstretched arms, settling right on the stick of Vanek. The Sabers went in 2-1, and a centering pass bounced in, putting Buffalo up 3-1 en route to a 6-2 win.

(The Pass is at 0:20)

GAME OF THE WEEKS

As I write this, there are 122 NHL hockey games in the book. Over the past two and a half weeks, my obligations include, but are not necessarily limited to, fraternity duties, hockey games, practice and administration, four college classes and covering the exciting world of the likes of WCC women’s tennis golf and soccer for The Santa Clara. Suffice to say, even though I have been watching 3-4 games at a time when I am in my room, I haven’t seen every game, so to chose a game of the weeks is clearly not an exhaustive practice. Instead this section will simply be dedicated to the best game I watch over the span of a couple of weeks.
This time, it was from an unlikely source. The overachieving (so far) Ottawa Senators were playing host to the Predators. Nashville had lost six games in a row, and in desperate need of a couple of points. They looked as though they were coming easily, as three first period goals put them in a comfortable position, holding a two period lead of 3-0, kept at 3 only by a number of brilliant second period saves by Patrick Lalime, who kept the Sens in the game.
In the third, though, things blew up. A two man advantage for the Senators let Chris Campoli tighten the game to 3-1 early in the third, and just three minutes later Nick Foligno brought it to 3-2. Just 8 minutes into the period, Milan Michalek continued the tear he has been on in Canada’s capitol, taking a pass at the top of the circle and beating Pekka Rinne to tie the game.
Shea Weber continued the scoring in the wild third, only to have Ottawa strike right back, making it 4-4 with 4 to play. After a delay of game and an unforgivable too many men penalty, Ottawa handed Nashville a 2 man advantage. The Predators capitalized, seemingly icing the comeback attempt by Ottawa with a Ryan Suter blast, with just 60 seconds to play.
The game appeared over, with the too many men penalty having 40 seconds more on it than remained in the game. Then, after many of the Senator faithful had already filed out to their cars, Rinne turned the puck over to Daniel Alfredsson. The vet fired the puck to the center of the slot, where Chris Phillips banged it home with just 2 seconds on the clock.
The overtime saw The Preds resume the powerplay, but Lalime was up to the task, and Ottawa and Nashville traded opportunities 4 on 4. Finally, the Predators got the two points they desperately needed, when Shea Weber scored his second of the game, and despite an incredible comeback and a 7 goal third period, the Senators took just 1 point, with Nashville getting the win on the road.

HIT OF THE WEEKS

The best hit I saw comes to us from Willie Mitchell, who caught Johnathan Teows and sparked a little dust up at center ice. Toews looked absolutely lost getting off the ice, and sat out a practice following the hit, so first of all, here’s hoping he is able to play ASAP. As for the hit, it was a great job by Mitchell to step up and recognize the hospital pass coming out of the box. Troy Brouwer owes Johnathan Toews a nice dinner.
As for the end of the play, Don Cherry was quick to criticize “the Swedes” for avoiding the dust up and going for the scoring chance, but with due respect to Cherry, I kind of agree with the announcers that Sedin may have had a point about the scoring chance being taken away. There would have been someone there if not for the fight, but it probably could have been a 1-1, 2-1 or even partial breakaway.

SHORTER HOCKEY THOUGHTS

- Kudos to the Atlanta Thrashers for putting a depth chart (lines) on the roster section of their website. This is as good a page as there is on the NHL.com network. Hopefully more teams will emulate it soon.
- It took Colin Wilson a while, but he finally found the scoresheet for his first goal in the NHL. He has been playing well though, and if he goes to the net like he did on the tally more, he will find plenty more goals.

- Same goes for James VanRiemsdyk, who showed great speed breaking through the defense to give himself a breakaway. A point per game pace through 7 games for a rookie is no joke.
- Not too much in here about the standings. New York’s start is obviously interesting, but I can’t read into Detroit being in 12th in the Western Conference, or Colorado leading the West. If you want to talk about the standings, talk to me in a month, but feel free to make it two.
- If you have been watching sportscenter or anything of that nature, you have probably seen the fluky goal scored by Jeff Schultze the other night against Atlanta. If you didn’t, Schulze tried a long stretch pass from the corner of his own zone. The pass couldn’t be handled, but the puck started to skip at some point, and it bounced passed the Atlanta goaltender Ondrej Pavlec, who had just replaced Johan Hedberg.
There really isn’t much to say about the goal itself. The puck was bouncing, it happens once or twice a year. Obviously Pavlec would like to have the play back, he didn’t really get in front of the puck which allowed the puck to skip past him, andhaving come off the bench just 4 minutes earlier certainly didn’t help, but like I said, it happens once or twice a year.
To me, the interesting thing, although unsurprising, is that Washington then scored two goals in the next two minutes (that’s two more, three in total). There is nothing more demoralizing than a soft goal. NHL hockey games are hard enough to win as it is, and if your goaltender lets in shots he should stop, it makes it feel like an uphill battle. If a team doesn’t feel like they can win by doing their job and keeping the shots to the outside, the effect of a goal like that can be two fold. The long goal certainly swung that game, and at the end of the day it is actually pretty impressive that the Thrashers rallied enough to bring it to 5-4.
- Even despite the amount of attention that he gets, Ilya Kovalchuk continues to be the most underrated player in the NHL. Kovalchuk is in his 8th season in Atlanta, having amassed over 300 goals, and he is only 26 years old. That is with a lockout. He has a very good chance of getting to 500 by the age of 30, something that only two people in the history of the National Hockey League has accomplished (Kovalchuck, Bossey and Gretzky…a list that could soon be upon us, truly mind bending). At 26 years of age, it is entirely possible that his 9 goals in 7 games pace is simply doe to him being that good, rather than some small hot streak.
- The implications of that last paragraph are that Russia will have the services of the two best goal scorers in a generation this February in Vancouver. That team will have more flaws than people realize, but that sort of firepower is staggering.

TOP 8 bottom eight

On The Up

8. Colorado Avalanche- Their play probably would warrant a higher spot, but their roster just isn’t impressive right now. They need to do it for a bit longer before I take them seriously as a contender.
7. Washington Capitals- A good start, but they are relying too much on offense. I can’t put them too high until they figure out a goaltending situation.
6. San Jose Sharks- An inconsistent start is keeping them out of the top 5, but I would be shocked if they aren’t back there in the next rankings two weeks from now.
5. Chicago Blackhawks- The only team at the top of their division that wouldn’t shock me if they stayed there, plain and simple.
4. Calgary Flames- A hot start from the Aves has put them in the 4 seed. They will take over by mid November.
3. Buffalo Sabers- Lead the Northwest Division, despite having played just 8 games. They have had a lot of talent the last couple of years, it may be coming together.
2. New York Rangers- Great start, would be in first place if not for division rival…
1. Pittsburgh Penguins- The title defense is off to a great start. They are the best team in the NHL until proven otherwise.

On The Down

23. Anaheim Ducks- A different team than the one that won the cup just a couple of years ago.
24. Tampa Bay Lightning- Is it possible to be a paper tiger at 10th in the conference?
25. Carolina Hurricanes- They won’t be here for long, but a hot start from some bad teams has them on the naughty list.
26. Nashville Predators- An early 6 game losing streak has them in the same position as the ‘Canes.
27. Minnesota Wild- It is hard to blame losing Gaborik when he missed so much time the last few years, but he was an extraordinary talent that they don’t have at their disposal.
28. Florida Panthers- Jay Boewmeister is a big loss on the blue line. People weren’t joking when they said it was probably a one year window for last year’s team.
29. New York Islanders- Probably 2-3 years away, more if they can’t figure out DiPietro. Only 1 win for the team with the best prospect since Crosby (Tavares).
30. Toronto Maple Leafs- A truly terrible hockey team. 0 Wins is very appropriate. More on them next column.

AWARD WATCH

This section is pretty strait forward, I will tell you who my picks for each award are. I’m not going to bother with the statistical ones (Rocket Richard, Art Ross etc), if you want a prediction for that, go here.

MVP

There are two definitions for this award, players’ choice (Lester B. Pearson) and official MVP (Hart Trophy), I will just pick one. At this point, plain and simple, it is Ovechkin. If you want to know why, read the sections above.
Honorable mention- Patrick Marleau, Anze Kopitar

Rookie of the Year

I have to go with Tavares. Like I said, he is the best prospect since this Crosby character. On the other hand, while that is somewhat debatable, what seems abundantly clear is that if the beginning of the season is any indication, this is the best crop of freshman since Crosby’s (and Ovechkin’s) class. His 7 points in just 9 games is only good enough for 5th, but in the end it comes down to trusting his game to keep him at his rate, something I wouldn’t say for the likes of Michael Del Zotto or Jamie Benn (both of whom are very good, but playing somewhat above themselves, if their Major Junior stats are any indication).
Honorable Mention (same criteria)- Jason Demers, Matt Duchene, James VanRiemsdyk

Vezina

Got to go with Marc-Andre Fleury, although no one has established themselves thus far.
Honorable Mention- Jonathan Quick, Craig Anderson

Masterson, Selke, etc

Too early to even guess.

NON NHL UPDATE

There really isn’t much going on in juniors, college or Europe at this point, and I am going to be well over 6000 words, so I am going to brush over this, but it should be a running feature here.

WHAT I’M WATCHING FOR

Team

The standings, particularly in the west, are so congested that it is hard to identify any sort of team that may face an early season breaking point. No one that you may expect to see in the playoffs is really in danger of falling behind yet. With that in mind, I am curious to see if someone can stay at the top.
Buffalo, as I said in the top/bottom, has had some potential for the last couple of years. Craig Rivet is one of the best captains in the league, and players like Drew Stafford, Roy and Jason Pominville are legitimately underrated. I will be very curious to see where they are the next time I am writing this.

Player

There are a lot of guys I have mentioned that I could talk about this, but I am going to go with the homer call. Patrick Marleau is off to a blazing start, logging 9 goals and 7 assists (tied for the league lead in tallies). I said most of what I want to say earlier, but I will be very interested to see if he keeps it up.

Matchup

There are a few contenders here. San Jose and Detroit are always interesting when they hook up, as they do on November 5th. Right now, Los Angeles playing host to the Penguins on the same night looks intriguing, but there really isn’t much reason to believe that the Kings will still be relevant 10 days from now. In fact though, there is one matchup that is as good a prediction for a Stanley Cup Preview as any. Two days later, on Saturday November 7th, the defending champs will take the ice at the Shark Tank in San Jose. By that time, it is entirely possible that both teams could be in first place in their conferences. At any rate, you would be hard pressed to find a more talented team in either conference. So, at any rate, that is what I am looking forward to in the coming fortnight.

Finally, a note explaining this whole debacle (since I hate doing the short posts explaining things)
I watch a ton of hockey. Most of it is online, because the combination of the NHL’s TV contract and Santa Clara University’s cable system results in a hellish quagmire rivaled only by the American healthcare system (games are being recorded, I have the means of watching those recordings, and they have the means of providing these recordings but I can’t get them, just like we have doctors, we have medicine and we have sick people, but somehow we can’t get sick people doctors and medicine as evidenced by my trip to 5 different medical centers for a broken hand…but I digress), the effect of which is between zero and zero NHL games being on my cable each week. None the less, as a resourceful user of the internet, I manage to watch my share (fine, 2-3 games a night and highlights for at least 90% of games is way more than my share, but whatever) of hockey in the form of bootleg ustream broadcasts, Yahoo’s webcasts, and NHL.com highlights.
In addition to that, I understand hockey. I may not be the leading expert on the game, or anything like that, but I have played a lot of hockey, and I have watched even more. On top of that, I love breaking down the game. Anytime I watch a hockey game with someone, I will likely fill their head with useless information that they, unfortunately, can’t unlearn. But that is their problem. And now it is yours, because from now on, I am going to be posting a bi-weekly wrap up of all things hockey. In fact, that’s what I am calling it (unless/until I think of a better name).
The goal of this column is (roughly) to emulate Peter King’s MMQB. Obviously, I don’t want to rip off King directly, and I fully intend to make it my own. Equally obviously, I don’t have the wherewithal, experience, time or contacts to actually replicate King’s column, but what I am doing will be heavily influenced by that column. Once again, it is not in any way a rip off, but that would definitely be the comparison I am looking for.
The fact is, I don’t have time to churn out 5000 words a week, and honestly, it would get a bit dull when some teams have only played 2 games in an 82 game schedule, but I will do my best to go every 2 weeks, at the least it will be every 3. Anyways, hope it is enjoying and informative.