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Our NHL All-Star Break Award Winners

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
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Alex Ovechkin

It could be argued that Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are the two most talented players in all of hockey.

But of course, Crosby has been out for almost an entire year with a concussion and Ovechkin, although he’s trying to change his game, hasn’t quite come to grips with his coaches’ demand for a more defensive approach to the sport.

As a result, for different reasons, hockey’s two greatest talents have been missing.

For fans and fantasy players, that’s not great news. For other players, however, it’s an opportunity to step up, score some goals, become leaders and make a name. One man’s disappointment is always another man’s opportunity.

As a result, a whole collection of new, young stars has risen to the top in the National Hockey League this season. Names that might not have been well known a year or two ago are now getting the respect that their coaches, teammates and a whole lot of scouts believed they always deserved or, at least, would earn.

nhlasg2012logo Our NHL All Star Break Award WinnersWe’re now just a week away from the NHL’s Mid-Winter Classic, the All-Star Game in Ottawa. At that game, you will no doubt be introduced to a number of young players who could, one day, take up the mantle that has been left virtually untouched since Crosby’s injury.

You will no doubt also recall some old names that have been stars in this league and are clearly stars once again. The one thing that this year’s all-star game will bring clearly to mind is the names of the players who should be honored at the end of the 2011-12 season.

In order to set you up for the big game in Ottawa, here’s a look at the players who should be honored at the mythical midway point of the campaign. These are our seven major award winners for the opening half.

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Evgeni Malkin

The Hart Trophy, Most Valuable Player: Our winner is Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins and our runners up are Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. nhl.com gave us a pretty clear outline of what Malkin has done in order to almost single-handedly keep the banged-up Penguins in the heart of the Stanley Cup playoff race:

“Since Crosby exited the lineup on Dec. 5, the Penguins have limped to a 9-9-0 record in his absence. If not for the heroics of Malkin things could be a whole lot worse. In those 18 games without Crosby — and not to mention Kris Letang one of the NHL’s best offensive defenseman who returned to the lineup after a two-month absence on Thursday — Malkin has 15 goals and 15 assists. He has factored in 30 of the Penguins’ 53 goals during that time (56.6 percent) and has been on the ice for a whopping 34 (69.8 percent) goals during that stretch.”

Malkin has also taken over as the NHL’s scoring leader (54 points) and he’s kept the Penguins within the Top 6 in the Eastern Conference.

Our runners-up are Giroux who is more responsible than anyone in that Flyers lineup for keeping Philly in the Top 5 in the East and Lundqvist, because the Rangers have 62 points and are first in the East for only one reason: goaltending. 

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Henrik Lundqvist

The Vezina Trophy, the Best Goaltender: Well, if he’s almost the MVP, Henrik Lundqvist is certainly the best goalie. The runners-up are Jonathan Quick and Jimmy Howard.

Lundqvist has played 34 games and has a 1.93 goals against average to go with his .936 save percentage. He’s 20-10-4 and has saved the first-place Rangers on more than one occasion.

Howard has played 39 games and is 28-10-1 with a 1.98 goals against average and .926 save percentage while Quick is 20-11-9 with a 1.92 GAA and a save percentage of .934. Frankly, if the Rangers aren’t first in the East and Lundqvist doesn’t make so many game-saving stops, I’d look at Quick as the best goalie in the game this year.

Of course, there is also that two-headed monster in Boston. Tuukka Rask is 11-4-1 in 16 games with a 1.61 GAA and a .946 save percentage while Tim Thomas is 19-9-0 in 30 games with a 2.02 GAA and a .936 save percentage. Turn those two guys into one and you have the best goalie in the world.

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Adam Larsson

The Calder Trophy, Rookie of the Year: There are three players I love for this award at the midway point of the year. Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads all rookie scorers with 13 goals and 22 assists. Adam Henrique in New Jersey is next with 13 goals and 21 assists. And then there is New Jersey’s Adam Larsson, a big, powerful defenseman who is logging 22-25 minutes a game.

If I had to vote today, Larsson would get my vote. It’s tough enough to learn to become a regular defenseman in the NHL. Larsson, the No. 4 pick overall last spring, has not only learned, he’s instantly become one of the best rearguards on a defensive minded team. In fact, he’s the No. 1 defenseman in the Devils lineup right now.

At 6-foot-3, 210-pounds he has all the tools to play the position but the fact he can skate, hit and clear the front of his own net, makes him, potentially, one of the great players of the future in the NHL today.

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Zdeno Chara

The Norris Trophy, Best Defenseman: We still love Nick Lidstrom and always will, but this year, Zdeno Chara, all-star captain and leader of the Boston Bruins, has been remarkable. He won his first Norris Trophy in 2008-09, and has been the Bruins rock ever since. He is currently on a pace to set career highs in assists, total points, and plus/minus, all while being the most imposing force on defense in the game – anywhere on the planet.

Our runners up are Nick Lidstrom (of course) of the Detroit Red Wings, and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators for reasons that are obvious.

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David Backes

The Selke Trophy, Best Defensive Player: There is only one choice for the Selke this year and while Ryan Kesler, Pavel Datsyuk, Jonathan Toews and Patrice Bergeron will get a load of support from the media voters, there is only one guy who passes the best defensive forward test at every level.

Centre David Backes of the St. Louis Blues covers the opposition’s best line on every shift. He starts most shifts as the centre in his own end and wins most of his faceoffs – and almost all the important ones. In fact, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock sends Backes out on to the ice 63 per cent of the time when his team has to start with a faceoff in its own end.

Backes also leads his team in scoring with 14 goals and 19 assists, is a plus-13 and is the leader on the power-play AND the penalty-kill. He’s also a leader on a team that is a remarkable 28-12-6 this season. He was snubbed by those selecting the players to attend this year’s all-star game and he’s been snubbed by the media mob that wants to give Toews an award, but won’t give him the Hart Trophy. Still, quite clearly David Backes is the best defensive forward in the game.

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Teemu

The Lady Byng Trophy, Most Gentlemanly Player: I don’t even have a runner-up for the Lady Byng. There is only one player who is even in the mix: Teemu Selanne.

The fact that he plays the game with passion, is the 15th leading scorer at age 41, seldom gets a dirty penalty, is beloved throughout the league and is such a class act at every possible level that there is no greater gentleman in all of hockey, makes this award a no-brainer. In fact, he should get it as a lifetime achievement award for being both a great player and a great human being.

I frankly, don’t care about anyone else. As one of my colleagues, Jonathan Willis, recently wrote: “This award really should go to a guy like Selanne, who has shown over a long career that he’s a superb player and someone who has exhibited exceptional sportsmanship throughout his career.”

Can I get an Amen?

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Paul MacLean

The Jack Adams Trophy, Coach of the Year: Absolutely no doubt about it, Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators is the coach of the year. Our runners-up would include Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues and Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings.

MacLean, the former Winnipeg Jets rightwinger has the Senators in fourth place in the East with a record of 27-16-6. A man who learned his coaching philosophy as a player and as an assistant to the very accomplished Babcock in Detroit, MacLean has taken an Ottawa team that was 32-40-10 (13th in the East) last season and nearly equaled that win mark by the all-star break.

There is no doubt that MacLean’s efforts have taken a team that was expected to miss the playoff this year and turned it into a team that is now three points out of first place in the entire NHL.

Babcock has Detroit in first overall with 63 points and what makes him great is his ability to handle some huge egos and make the gifted Red Wings play as a team. Meanwhile, Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne early in the season and in a very short time coaxed the Blues into fourth in the West.

By the way, I have no problem with those people who promote the efforts of Alain Vigneault in Vancouver, Barry Trotz in Nashville and John Tortorella with the Rangers. They’ve all done great work.

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Another Day With the Circus

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
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Chris Johnson Should Be in the NFL Playoffs

New Year’s Day was disappointing. There were no real upsets in the NFL wars. Sure, Kansas City going into Denver and beating the Broncos 7-3 was a bit of an upset, but considering all the holes in the Broncos offense, it wasn’t a big surprise.

In the end, the finish to the NFL season created the usual stupid playoff matchups. Explain to me the logic behind the ridiculous fact that 12-4 Pittsburgh has to go on the road to play at 8-8 Denver in the first round of the post-season this coming weekend. That’s bloody senseless. Sure, Denver won a Division, but there are BCS teams that could have won the AFC West. The only surprise in the AFC West is that San Diego coach Norv Turner wasn’t fired on Monday.

Of course, it was a surprise that Norv Turner wasn’t fired seven weeks ago.

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Tim Tebow Should Not Be in the NFL Playoffs

When 9-7 teams are eliminated (Tennessee) and 8-8 teams (Denver) get in, you have a problem with your playoff structure. It’s time the NFL went to at least eight teams in the post-season. Or else the league should have a cross-over team. Denver has no business being in the playoffs. And they have no business being in the playoffs even if they upset Pittsburgh this week. The Broncos, a sorry team,  are in the playoffs only because the rest of their division is putrid and their presence is a post-season blight on the NFL’s good name.

OK, that rant is done. Now, to relax. At least, on the day after New Year’s, we were treated to some very good sporting events.

Loved the Wisconsin-Oregon Rose Bowl, won 45-38 by Oregon in what the critics are calling Nike’s victory over adidas.

It seems the teams themselves were perfectly matched. The difference in the game was the uniforms. adidas had developed special uniforms for Wisconsin while Nike had developed what it called, “the greatest technological advancement in uniform design in sports history.” (I love the fact that Nike doesn’t get all hyperbolic about itself).

In the end, Oregon won because they had cooler helmets. At least, that’s my guess.

I also enjoyed the Michigan State-Georgia Outback Bowl in Tampa. Considering the way the Buccaneers played in 2011, it was the best football game Tampa fans saw all year. Michigan State won 33-30 in triple overtime. Nice.

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Rangers Score to Win the Winter Classic

The one thing that wasn’t so nice on Jan. 2 was the Winter Classic, the NHL’s outdoor game in Philly. The hockey was decent and it’s always fun to watch one outdoor NHL game a year, but the officiating made the NHL look like professional wrestling.

I had a Sport Select ticket with the Flyers on it, but by the end of the game, I was cheering for the Rangers. That’s because, by the end of the game, referees Ian Walsh and Dennis LaRue were doing everything they possibly could to get Philly the tying goal. Why didn’t one of them just throw the puck in the net and say Scottie Hartnell shot it?

Ryan Callahan’s holding the stick penalty was one of the most mind-boggling calls in hockey history while the penalty shot call on Ryan McDonagh was weak (Covering the puck in the crease? Well, maybe, at absolute worst). In the end, Henrik Lundqvist beat the officials by himself and I didn’t even mind tearing up my Pro Line ticket.

Then, to top off a very interesting day, word arrived on my Twitter that the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats were about to swap quarterbacks.

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Henry Burris Now No. 1 in Hamilton

You knew it was coming, didn’t you? You knew there was no way the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were going back into battle with Kevin Glenn as their No. 1 quarterback next season. And you also knew that Lyle Bauer, the president in Calgary, was NOT going to pay Henry Burris a bonus on Feb. 1, if he could help it. After all, he pulled the same trick with Kevin Glenn in 2009 when he released Glenn before he had to pay him a few thousand bones.

Anyway, we learned late in the day that there was a deal in place to send Glenn to Calgary as the backup to Drew Tate — along with offensive lineman Mark Dewit — while Burris would head to the Ticats to be the new No. 1 in Hamilton.

It was a huge trade, but absolutely no surprise.

It was quite a day. Throw in all the NFL firings and it was a lot more fun than NFL Sunday.

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Why Doesn’t Anyone Challenge the Forbes List?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

ZForbesSportsMoney 300x300 Why Doesnt Anyone Challenge the Forbes List?What I love most about the annual Forbes Magazine “Values of NHL Franchises” list is how the international mainstream media covers it as if it’s legitimate.

Because google is my friend, I checked out 30 different international media outlets and found the reporting almost equal at every stop. Not one outlet looked at the numbers and said, “Really? You believe this number and this ranking? You really believe that? Really?”

Here is how the 2011 Forbes Hockey Franchise Values Lst was reported in the National Post. It is worth the read:

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Dustin Byfuglien a year ago.

“Moving the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg is paying off big time for the team’s new owners. According to Forbes, the Jets gained the most value of any of the 30 National Hockey League teams from last season to this season.

“A year ago, the Thrashers were valued at $135 million. The new rankings estimate the Jets are now valued at $164 million, which represents a 21per cent increase. The average year-over-year increase across the league was 5 per cent.

“The Jets are ranked 24th in the league and are worth more than the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes, according to Forbes. The Coyotes are owned and operated by the league, and are valued at just $134-million to finish last in the valuation ranking.

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Phil Kessel leads the Leafs.

“At the top of the list are the Toronto Maple Leafs, valued at $521-million. The Rangers are second at $507-million, while the Montreal Canadiens are third at $445-million.

“The majority owners of the Leafs, the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan, had considered selling part of the team earlier this year, but have since decided to retain ownership. The Leafs’ value increased by three per cent this season, according to Forbes. The Rangers are up 10 per cent and the Canadiens have seen their value rise nine per cent. The Vancouver Canucks are the next Canadian team on the list at No. 7. They’re worth an estimated $300-million, up 15 per cent a year after reaching the Stanley Cup final.”

Sounds convincing, doesn’t it? Trouble is, nobody bothered to ask anybody this question: “How did you come up with those numbers?”

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Dustin Byfuglien today

Let’s look at the Jets, as a for-instance. The team was purchased from the owners in Atlanta for $170 million — $110 million for the franchise and $60 million to the league for “relocation fees.”

Immediately upon the team’s arrival in Winnipeg, the building sold out – for at least three years and much of the building was sold out for five years. And it was sold out in less than half an hour.

When it moved from Atlanta to Winnipeg, the hockey team went from an arena in which it was treated like a tenant – even though there was one ownership group for hockey, basketball and the building –  to a rink in which the owners owned it all and were treating the hockey club as the featured anchor alongside one of the top concert destinations in North America.

Even if the team struggled in Winnipeg, which it wasn’t going to do, it’s finances would be covered by all the other activities in the building: Just as the teams are treated in larger venues such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver etc., etc. where the owners also own the buildings. Frankly, as we speak, this Jets franchise is almost priceless.

But here’s what I love about Forbes’ seemingly random valuations. In one breath, the writer and researcher, Michael Ozanian, makes a big issue out of the fact that the Carolina Hurricanes are a consistent money loser and yet, in the next breath, he rates the Hurricanes’ value significantly ahead of Winnipeg’s. It makes no sense.

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Gary Bettman

“Three years ago NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told me not a single NHL team was worth less than $200 million,” Ozanian wrote. “But money-losing teams are being sold for much less. In February, Forbes 400 member Terrence Pegula bought the Buffalo Sabres, who lost $5.6 million last season, for $165 million. The St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes, two other teams losing money, are being shopped at prices well below $200 million. And the New Jersey Devils, who sank 17 per cent in value to $181 million, are in such bad shape financially that there is speculation the team could be headed for bankruptcy and a court supervised sale like the Dallas Stars.”

And yet, Dallas, a team just purchased out of bankruptcy, which drew only 10,175 fans for a game with Florida on Nov. 15, only 11,779 for a game with Los Angeles on Nov. 23, and only 10,490 for a game with Ottawa last Thursday, is deemed by Forbes to be worth $230 million.

Now I won’t say the Stars, with that big beautiful American Airlines Arena in which to play, aren’t worth $230 million. Heck, it could very well be true. But here’s why it’s random and senseless: The Stars were purchased out of bankruptcy for $265 million and yet the team is a mere tenant in an arena owned by the City of Dallas and managed by the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

Ozanian can’t explain that one, except perhaps to say that on some planet in some other universe, the Dallas Stars are worth more than the Winnipeg Jets.

Nor can he explain his take on the New Jersey Devils. The Devils, as he reports himself, could be headed toward bankruptcy. Their announced crowds this season average around 14,800 per game in a 17,625-seat rink. Many of those fans, especially on weekends, are Quebec hockey fans who go to the Devils and Islanders games wearing old Nordiques jerseys – a message to Bettman that Quebec City’s fans are ready even though the arena is not.

Ozanian says the Devils are worth $181 million and yet they don’t own their arena, don’t fill their arena and are nearly bankrupt? Huh?

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Michael Ozanian

According to Ozanian, the Jets aren’t worth as much as Carolina, New Jersey, Colorado (which seldom, if ever, sells out the Pepsi Centre) or Dallas and are worth only a million more than Nashville, another team that doesn’t own its own arena.

Hate to say this, but this stuff reads as if is all made up.

Now, to his credit, Ozanian does know this: “… margins are getting squeezed. During the 2010-11 season the league posted operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $126 million, 21 per cent lower than the previous year. Main reason: Player costs increased 11 per cent, to $59 million. Last season 18 of the league’s 30 teams lost money even before they had to pay bank loans or write down assets, compared with 16 the prior year.

“The league’s salary cap, set at 57 per cent of revenue, is too high for some teams to be profitable,” Ozanian continued. “As a result, expect the National Hockey League to undergo a cantankerous labor negotiations when the owners and players union begin to hammer our a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the current six-year deal that expires in September. The NHL must move much closer to the 48 per cent model the NFL agreed to before this season or the 50-50 revenue split National Basketball Association’s owners and players recently agreed to.”

All that means the Jets are doing just fine and have one of the strongest organizations in all of major professional sports. And while I’m not as smart as some MBA at Forbes Magazine, I can tell you this: It will take a helluva lot more than $164 million to buy the Winnipeg Jets today.

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Our Picks for the NHL Awards

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Tonight in Las Vegas the National Hockey League will holds its annual awards show.

Here’s a look at the nominees and our choices as the most deserving winners:

Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player)

Nominees: Corey Perry (Anaheim), Daniel Sedin (Vancouver) and Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay).

Who we think should win: Daniel Sedin.

Vezina Trophy (outstanding goaltender)

Nominees: Roberto Luongo (Vancouver), Pekka Rinne (Nashville) and Tim Thomas (Boston).

Who should win: Tim Thomas.

Norris Trophy (outstanding all-around defenceman)

Nominees: Zdeno Chara (Boston), Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit) and Shea Weber (Nashville).

Who should win: Zdeno Chara.

Calder Trophy (outstanding rookie)

Nominees: Logan Couture (San Jose), Michael Grabner (N.Y. Islanders) and Jeff Skinner (Carolina).

Who should win: Jeff Skinner.

Jack Adams (outstanding coach)

Nominees: Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh), Barry Trotz (Nashville) and Alain Vigneault (Vancouver).

Who should win: Barry Trotz.

Selke Trophy (top defensive forward)

Nominees: Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver) and Jonathan Toews (Chicago).

Who should win: Jonathan Toews.

Lady Byng (most gentlemanly player)

Nominees: Loui Eriksson (Dallas), Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit) and Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay).

Who should win: Nicklas Lidstrom.

Ted Lindsay Award (outstanding player as voted by his peers)

Nominees: Corey Perry (Anaheim), Daniel Sedin (Vancouver) and Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay).

Who should win: Sedin.

 

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Nobody Better Than the Canucks

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It’s one of those accomplishments worth shouting from the rooftops.

This past week, the Vancouver Canucks reached the 50-win plateau for the first time in their 40-year history. In the meantime, the Canucks backup goalie, Cory Schneider made 39 saves to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 to improve to 15-3-2 on the season as the Canucks extended their road winning streak to eight games. That winning streak reached nine with a 3-1 victory over Nashville and then, last night, back home at Rogers Centre, the Canucks beat L.A. 3-1 to win their fifth straight game and reach 113 points (52-18-9), the most in franchise history.

They also wrapped up the President’s Trophy.

The Canucks are the first Canadian-based team to win the Western Conference title since the current playoff format started. They have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, but it doesn’t look like that matters. After all, wiuth that win in Nashville, this is a team that has won nine straight on the road.

It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to call a Canadian-based team the best in the NHL, but you can’t help but do it now.

Meanwhile, it is now, officially, the final week of the regular season in the National Hockey League and only half the teams in the playoff hunt have been decided.

Five teams in the East have punched their tickets: Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay and three in the West: Vancouver, Detroit and San Jose.

In the East, Montreal, Buffalo, the Rangers, Carolina and Toronto are still fighting for the last three spots while in the West, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Nashville, Anaheim,. Chicago, Calgary and Dallas are in the race for the final five spots. It’s going to be a sensational final week.

 

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Cooke’s Suspension Not As Long As It’s Perceived.

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

Pittsburgh Penguins bad boy Matt Cooke was sent a message by the NHL’s vice-president of discipline, Colin Campbell, on Monday. Cooke was suspended for the rest of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs for elbowing New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the head.

You’ve probably seen the elbow. The folks at TSN seem to run it in a loop with the rest of Cooke’s Cheapest Hits. The guy is a danger to his fellow NHL players, as well as the game. He almost destroyed Marc Savard’s life while in the process of destroying his career. Cooke’s head-shots have also caused his owner, the great Mario Lemieux to become a laughing stock.

In case you’ve forgotten, back on February 15 we wrote: “So Pittsburgh Penguins owner and president, Mario Lemieux, didn’t like the discipline handed out by the NHL to the New York Islanders this past weekend?

“Not surprising. Mario has a lot on his plate right now. He has a concussed Sidney Crosby who is likely out of the lineup until mid-March at best and he has Evgeni Malkin out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. With his two best players on the sidelines, Mario has noticed his Pens aren’t very good.  Between the injuries and the circus on Long Island last week, ol’ Mario is angry.

“Trouble is, he lives in a glass house … Mario’s problem is that he’s part of the whole mess. His Penguins have a headhunter named Matt Cooke. This is the guy who has, evidently, ended Marc Savard’s career. He’s a 32-year-old enforcer with a reasonable amount of skill who can pass for a legitimate player. However, if the Penguins need someone to end an opponent’s career, Matt Cooke is ready and willing to do whatever it takes. Most recently, Cooke was handed a four-game suspension (on Feb. 9), for hitting Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin from behind. It was a vicious, stupid hit delivered by a vicious, stupid man. However, it’s Mario’s man and as a result, when Lemieux talks about “sideshows,” he forgets that Cooke is one of the biggest clowns of the bunch.”

Cooke is the worst kind of goon. The type of player who isn’t a fighter, just a cheap-shot, head hunter.

Still, based on everything that went on this week, Cooke got off with a pretty light sentence. Sure, the penalty sounded amazing. “The remainder of the season and the first round of the playoffs,” but it’s also a minimum of 14 games. In other words, it’s very likely the penalty will be 14 games. Should have been 40.

There are only nine games left in the season and the first round will be over before the end of April. It wasn’t a serious penalty, it was just perceived to be a serious penalty. No wonder the Penguins weren’t going to appeal it. On sober second thought, it wasn’t a big deal at all.

Matt Cooke is considered one of the NHL’s dirtiest players and at the last NHL GM’s meeting the league claimed it  was going to clean up head shots. That penalty isn’t going to do it.

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Love the Hawks, Wouldn’t Be Hurt With Flyers Upset

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

As a Winnipegger, it’s difficult to pick a side in the Stanley Cup final.

After all, if the Hawks win the Cup, the trophy will come to Winnipeg with Chicago captain Jonathan Toews and very likely stay here for a week or two. If the Flyers win the Cup, captain Mike Richards will bring it to Kenora and spend a few days with it in Winnipeg and then Arron Asham will bring it to Portage la Prairie and then I’m sure I’ll run into him — and his little trophy — on the golf course someplace.

When you stop and consider that the captains of the two teams in this year’s final are from Winnipeg (Toews) and Kenora (Richards), you start to get the sense that in the same year Canada won both Olympic hockey gold medals, the game has really, really, really come home.

In fact, if you check the rosters of the Hawks and Flyers, it’s hard not to look at them as Canada’s teams. The Hawks have 15 Canadians while the Flyers have 17 (and that’s just on a list of the regulars). It’s great to cheer for Canadian-based teams at playoff time, nothing wrong with that at all. But if you like to cheer for Canadian hockey players, cheer for the Hawks and Flyers. They have a boat load of ‘em.

And that’s why it’s tough to pick a side. Sure, I’ll go ahead and pick a winner, but I really don’t care who wins. I have no trouble cheering for both of them. And, because I’m 8-6 in series picks this spring, I have nothing to brag about.

The Stanley Cup Final

Chicago Blackhawks (Western Conference Champion) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Eastern Conference Champion)

Let’s make one thing clear: Both these teams have good players. The Hawks and Flyers didn’t get this far in the NHL’s two-month post-season tournament because they won 12 games by some fluke of nature. Yeah, it’s a great story how the Flyers reached the playoffs because they won a shootout against the Rangers in the final game of the regular season, but at this stage it’s nothing more (or less) than a great story. The Flyers have earned their ticket to the final just as the Hawks have earned theirs. But here’s why I like the Hawks to win: they’re just as tough as the Flyers, they have just as much heart, they skate better, they have more scorers, they have equally qualified special teams (probably a better power play) and a better goaltender. End of argument for me.

Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

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Should There Be More Teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

TAMPA, Fla. — Dallas Stars scouting director, Les Jackson, believes the National Hockey League needs to add more teams to the post-season. Not necessarily for the sake of competition as much as for the sake of the business.

Friday night I was sitting with Jackson, an old friend from way back in the days when he coached the Brandon Wheat Kings, at the Lightning-Rangers game in Tampa and he asked an interesting question: “Why wouldn’t the NHL want to add eight more teams to the playoffs every year? Why wouldn’t the league want to do everything to help its members make some money?”

It was a nell of a question. According to Jackson, if more teams made the playoffs fewer would lose big money. It makes overwhelming sense and, with some thought, it could be practical, too.

“Back in the glory days of the six-team NHL, four of six teams made the playoffs. If you carried that on to today, it means the league should have 20 teams in the playoffs. So why not 24? Why not give the teams that are in tough hockey markets a chance to sell the game in the post-season? Everybody loves the playoffs. Why not let more teams have the chance to enjoy the playoffs?”

It would be easy to say, “We don’t want more teams in the playoffs because it makes the regular season less important,” but I understand what Jackson means even from the competitive standpoint. This year, a team that’s 10 games above .500 (Calgary) might miss the playoffs and two teams that are seven games above .500 (Anaheim and St. Louis) WILL miss the playoffs. Right now, seven teams with better than .500 records will miss the post-season.

If we were talking about crappy teams without a hope, I could understand why fans wouldn’t want to add any more teams. But this year, a load of teams that will miss the playoffs are probably good enough to challenge more than half the teams that make it. The competition would not suffer.

Jackson is right. The NHL should add at least four and maybe eight more teams to the post-season. It wouldn’t hurt the competition and it would definitely improve the business.

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Things to Consider With Three Weeks to Go.

Posted on March 19, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

ST. PAUL, Minn. — While the general managers and the league’s other tall foreheads try to come to terms with illegal checks to the head (sorry, boys, but the rulebook is full of rules that would get headshots out of the game), the rest of the NHL is just playing hockey.

So with about three weeks to play before the Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us, let’s take a look at the league from a Winnipeg perspective:

1) Although he says he has not completely made up his mind, it appears that after 18 seasons, former Winnipeg Jets captain Keith Tkachuk is nearing the end of his brilliant career.

Saying his future in St. Louis is now, Tkachuk wouldn’t admit whether or not he was retiring at the end of the season, but he did say, “I often think about this being the end.” No doubt, the Hall of Fame awaits.

2) Remember when the San Jose Sharks had a very comfortable 12-point lead in the Pacific Division? Well, not anymore. That’s because the Phoenix Coyotes have won seven straight and have moved to within three points (at the beginning of the weekend) of the heavily favored and quite talented division leaders.

The 44-22-5 Coyotes have all but assured themselves of a spot in the post-season for the first time since 2002. Now, however, they are closing in on home ice advantage in the West. This should be a great finish.

3) By now, it has to be official. There is no better coach in the NHL than Dauphin’s Barry Trotz (OK, maybe Dave Tippett in Phoenix, but nobody else). Trotz, the only coach the Nashville Predators have ever had, has the no-name, star-less Predators in seventh place five points ahead up on eight-place Detroit (at the start of the weekend).

That shouldn’t happen. The Preds just don’t have the personnel. But Trotz has made them a playoff contender – they beat L.A. on the road this week and have won four straight — and that says more about his brilliance than anything else.

4) Calling it “a retaliatory hit to the head,” the National Hockey League suspended Anaheim Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski for eight games without pay for that terrible hit to the face and head of Brent Seabrook on Wednesday night.

Wisniewski definitely gave Seabrook a cheap shot, but an eight-game suspension after giving Alexander Ovechkin only two? The NHL justice department is completely nonsensical.

5) The Montreal Canadiens have looked very good at times this season. They’ve had two four-game winning streaks. But not until the Olympic break, have the Habs put together so many outstanding games in succession. In fact, with six straight wins heading into the weekend, Montreal has moved into the playoff driver’s seat in the East.

After Tuesday night’s game, a 3-1 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, the Habs moved past Philly and into sixth place in the Eastern Conference (later in the week they fell back into seventh). The Bruins are eighth with 74 points, four points back, while ninth-place Atlanta and the Rangers are seven points back. With only 12 to play, the red-hot Habs are in control of their own playoff destiny.

6) Perhaps no one has noticed, but Winnipeg’s Travis Zajac is having a season to remember. Zajac, the 24-year-old rightwinger out of the University of North Dakota has moved into the Top 35 in NHL scoring with 21 goals and 38 assists.

Perhaps more importantly, the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, is a terrific plus-14. By the time the next Olympics roll around, he’ll be one of the best players in the game, if he isn’t already.

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Hey Winnipeg: How About Rick Nash as a Jet?

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The following is from today’s Columbus Dispatch:

The Columbus Blue Jackets could leave central Ohio if the team can’t fix an economic model that is causing losses of $12 million a year, according to a report issued today by the Columbus Chamber (of Commerce). But a deal to keep the hockey team here and the Arena District alive — the team and the district generated $30 million in taxes last year — probably will include asking for public dollars, and soon.

“We believe there is a sense of urgency here,” said Ty D. Marsh, chamber president and CEO. “We’re looking for a solution or progress by the end of the year.”

We’ve heard the rumours (mostly fabricated) about how David Thomson, he of the Thomson-Reuters Thomsons, wants to buy the Atlanta Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg. It’s a nice thought, but the move of the Thrashers, if there is ever a move of the Thrashers (and if you’ve seen the empty seats in Phillips Arena, there might be), is probably behind the moves of the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets. Maybe even the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It’s very unlikely the Blue Jackets have made any money in Columbus since the creation of the salary cap — and floor. For most owners, the cap is way too high because the revenues — especially corporate — in the non-traditional or smaller U.S. markets will never touch the traditional big U.S. markets or the six Canadian markets. The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers can handle a $57 million cap and $45 million floor, the Predators, Panthers, Coyotes and Blue Jackets can’t.

No matter how well the Blue Jackets play — and they are pretty good — it will be virtually impossible to sell enough tickets to match the shortfall. In other words, even if the Blue Jackets sell out, they still won’t make enough money to turn a profit.

If there is a team that becomes available soon, it will be Columbus. Commissioner Bettman still believes the Coyotes can make it in Phoenix and he’ll go to the poor house to see that it happens. Columbus, however, is a college town and Triple A market that will never be a profitable major sports centre.

If any team moves, any time soon, it will be the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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