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The NHL at the Quarter Pole

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
sidney crosby 238x300 The NHL at the Quarter Pole

The Kid is Back

Sidney Crosby is back, Alexander Ovechkin is struggling, the Calgary Flames are fighting amongst themselves, Ken Hitchcock is now coaching in St. Louis while everyone is wondering how long Scott Arniel will last in Columbus and Phil Kessel is the leading scorer in the National Hockey League.

We’re one quarter of the way through the 2011-12 NHL season and these are among the key stories as the league speeds head-on into the holiday season.

Things are crazy this season. The Winnipeg Jets are back but they’re still playing like the old Atlanta Thrashers. The Minnesota Wild, with 29 points, is the No. 1 team in the league. And after 20-plus games for most teams, there are two teams in the Top 8 in the East that didn’t make the playoffs last year and three in the West.

It’s the NHL at the quarter-pole. Let’s look at the 10 biggest stories:

1. Sidney Crosby is Back: The Kid returned on Monday, Nov. 20 and wowed national audiences on both sides of the border with two goals and two assists in his return. After missing almost a year with post-concussion syndrome, his return to the game was just as important to the NHL as it was Sidney himself. The fact that he went scoreless in his second game against St. Louis went without notice. Crosby is back and that’s good for hockey.

Phil+Kessel+Buffalo+Sabres+v+Toronto+Maple+bAvHC8tETdsl 242x300 The NHL at the Quarter Pole

Phil Kessel

2. Phil Kessel is the NHL’s Leading Scorer: He was drafted fifth overall in 2005 and since that day, the NHL has been waiting for Kessel to reach a level of play that no one with a walnut for a brain ever truly believed he could reach. Drafted by Boston, he scored 36 goals in 2008-09 but the Bruins expected more. Dealt to Toronto, he’s had a 30-goal season in 2009-10 and a 32-goal season last year and he’s a damned good player. Trouble is, Toronto fans – like Boston fans – have expected more. This year, he has 16 goals and 14 assists in the first 22 games and leads the NHL in goals and points. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the year Kessel gets the respect he deserves.

3. Ken Hitchcock Hired to Coach the Blues, Not Jackets: Everyone – and that means absolutely everyone – thought Hitchcock would return to the NHL this year as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. After all, the Blue Jackets were still paying him, Scott Arniel was said to be on the verge of a sacking and the Blue Jackets had allegedly spoken to Hitchcock. Then, out of the blue (pun intended), Payne Davis was fired in St. Louis and Hitchcock was behind the bench of the Blues. He started out 4-0-1, the best start of any coach in Blues franchise history and suddenly the Blues found themselves fifth overall in the West. Quite a move.

Alex+Ovechkin+Washington+Capitals+v+Toronto+G1Edq3jHTLtl 250x300 The NHL at the Quarter Pole

Alex Ovechkin

4. Alex Ovechkin is Not the Same: Sure, it’s early yet, but something seems to be terribly wrong with Alex the Great. He has seven goals and nine assists in the Capitals first 20 games and is 58th in scoring. He is on pace for a 65-point season. In 2007-08, he had 65 goals. After he had 50 goals and 59 assists in just 72 games in 2009-10, he hasn’t been the same. He had only 32 goals and 53 points last year and this year, while he plays exciting hockey in spurts, he is not consistently great – or exciting. Insiders say Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has sucked the life out of Ovechkin with his defense-first philosophy and perhaps that’s true. If it is, it’s time for a change. Man, Ovie would look really good in L.A., but then again, the Kings probably couldn’t handle the cap hit.

5. The Leafs Look Like a Playoff Team: Even with goalie-of-the-present-and-future James Reimer out with a concussion, the Leafs have played steady hockey and through 22 games, they are 12-8-2, fifth in the East. They have the leading scorer in the NHL in Phil Kessel and they often appear to be a team that could stay in the hunt all season long. In fairness, the next 20 games will probably show us whether or not the Leafs are for real.

Andrew Ladd 1 235x300 The NHL at the Quarter Pole

Andrew Ladd

6. Winnipeg’s Return to the NHL: Wow! The building is sold out, the team is 8-9-4 through their first 21 games and fans are madly in love with this group of orphans who were once known as the Atlanta Thrashers. It’s the fans, however, that have sent a message to the NHL. That message is clear, too. Get teams out of Florida, Phoenix, Nashville, Dallas, Columbus and all those minor-league southern markets and send the game back to Canada and the northern United States. This is where players are revered and the game is loved. The NHL would be better off with three teams in Toronto, two in Vancouver and one each in Halifax, Quebec City and Saskatchewan than it is with teams in the U.S. Sun Belt.

7. The Minnesota Wild Is No. 1: Last year, the Wild went 39-35-8 and finished 12th in the West. Today, the Wild are 13-5-3 during the first 21 games and No. 1 overall in the NHL. Yes, that’s the whole NHL. Yeah, really. The Wild acquired Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi from San Jose in the off-season and have made themselves one of the better clubs in the NHL. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have Nicklas Backstrom and Josh Harding as your goaltenders and the heart and soul of Cal Clutterbuck, Guillaume Latendresse, Matt Cullen, Mikko Koivu and Kyle Brodziak, but the acquisition of Heatley and Setoguchi have made the Wild a legitimate playoff contender. The key now, is to avoid last season’s late collapse.

martin st. louis 201x300 The NHL at the Quarter Pole

Marty St. Louis

8. Tampa/Washington Fighting with Coaches: There is a real sense out there that the Washington Capitals are having trouble relating to the defense-first philosophy of head coach Bruce Boudreau and that the Tampa Bay Lightning have simply stopped listening at all to Guy Boucher. The Caps won the East last year and are now sixth. The Lightning was fifth in the East last year and is now 12th. Whatever the reason, something is definitely wrong with both teams.

9. Phoenix is Still an Ownership Wasteland: See: “Winnipeg’s Return to the NHL.”

10: Brendan Shanahan Hands Out Discipline (Or Not): If you can figure out the reasons for why players receive or don’t receive secondary discipline from Shanahan’s office, you’re smarter than, well, just about everybody. Why some players get three-game suspensions and others avoid any secondary discipline at all seems like a pure guessing game. At least, from afar. It’s amazing that while few people understood Colin Campbell’s disciplinary policy, even fewer seem to understand Shanahan’s. Maybe the players get it.

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Great First Round of the Playoffs. Now it’s on to Round 2

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

There is only one Canadian team left in the Stanley Cup playoffs and let’s be honest, the Vancouver Canucks were lucky to move on.

Meanwhile, we had a pretty darn good record in Round 1, finishing 7-1 (our only miss was Nashville over the Ducks). With a game on Thursday night, it’s time to take a close look at Round 2:

2011 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS ROUND 2

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Series I: No. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning (Defeated Pittsburgh in Seven Games) at No. 1 Washington Capitals (Defeated NY Rangers in Five Games).

Season Series: Washington won 4-1-1

The Capitals looked awesome in taking out the Rangers in five games. Ovechkin is back, Semin scored a couple of big goals and the checking lines were great. Tampa can score, no doubt about it, but in their win over Pittsburgh, the Lightning had some very bright spots defensively. In fact, that 1-0 win on the road in Game 7 against the Pens was a tribute to both goaltender Dwayne Roloson and the defensive unit in front of him. I loved the way Tampa battled back and I’ve developed a great deal of respect for coach Guy Boucher, but I just think Washington is the best team in the East.

Key player; Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay Lightning.

Our pick: Washington in six.

Series J: No. 3 Boston Bruins (Defeated Montreal in Seven Games) at No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers (Defeated Buffalo in Seven Games).

Season Series: Boston won 3-0-1

It’s the same thing every year. If the Flyers get the goaltending they require, they will win and advance. If they don’t, well… Boston won the season series quite handily and beat a much better team to get to the second round. Boston has significantly better goaltending and Philly will go down for the same reason it goes down every year. If your goaltender isn’t your best player, you can always lose. Once again, Philadelphia is likely to lose.

Key player: Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

Our pick: Boston in six.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Series K: No. 5 Nashville Predators (Defeated Anaheim in Six Games) at No. 1 Vancouver Canucks (Defeated Chicago in Seven Games)

Season Series: A split 2-2.

If you are a regular reader of fantrax.com, you know I’m a huge fan of Predators head coach Barry Trotz. On Monday I wrote that he should be the NHL’s coach of the year. However, I also think his hard-working Preds might need some divine help to get past the Canucks who just got a real scare from the Chicago Blackhawks – proving that defending champions do not go down easily. The Preds don’t score a lot, they don’t have a of bog name stars and they seldom look like a playoff worthy team at the start of the season, but this year’s Predators are as good a team as there is in the West. Trouble is, they get to face the best team in the NHL and one suspects the Sedin Twins will wake up this time.

Key player:  Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks

Our pick: Vancouver in five.

Series L: No. 3 Detroit Red Wings (Defeated Phoenix in Four Games) at No. 2 San Jose Sharks (Defeated Los Angeles in Six Games).

Season Series: Sharks won 3-1-0

This is a great matchup because in recent years both of these teams have been very good and yet both have choked in the playoffs. Detroit looked like a buzz saw, taking out a pretty good Coyotes team in four straight games. If Pavel Datsyuk is a as good as he was in Round 1 and the checking lines continue to dominate, the Wings could have an easy time. Henrik Zetterberg is also expected back for Round 2. The Sharks finally got past the first round and looked good doing it, although they did take out a banged-up Kings team that just wasn’t up to snuff offensively without leading scorer, Anze Kopitar. However, Joe Thornton looked good in Round 1 and that might bode well for the Sharks.

Key player: Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings.

Our pick: Red Wings in six.

 

 

 

 

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Hockey Night in Tampa

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

TAMPA, Fla. — Once the national media gets its teeth into the Big Story, nothing will shake it loose.

TSN, the Globe, even Rogers SportsNet (sort of), has picked up on the struggles of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his deep desire to save his beloved Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes, of course, is the NHL franchise he ripped out of Winnipeg and took to Phoenix, even though the rink in Phoenix was considerably worse than the one in Winnipeg (an entire end of the rink, which was actually a basketball building, had an obstructed view) and no one in Phoenix gave a crap about hockey.

By changing owners (and nearly destroying the original owners financially), Bettman eventually got the good burghers of Glendale, Ariz., to build him an arena. It was beauty, too. Trouble was, nobody wanted to go and watch this hockey product in the desert. They didn’t care about in a lousy rink and they didn’t care in a good one, but he kept saying, “Just wait until there is a good team, here. Then they’ll start going to the games.”

Well, the Coyotes have a pretty good team right now (they’re sixth in the West with 78 points), and people still aren’t flocking to jobing.com Arena. So now Bettman struggles with the Coyotes ownership situation and does more to save the Coyotes than he ever did to save Winnipeg.

If he doesn’t save this franchise, he owes Richard Burke, Steven Gluckstern and poor old Jerry Moyes (who lost about $300 million on that dog) an apology. In fact, if he has to move this team to Winnipeg after screwing over Moyes and Jim Balsillie and their plan to move the team to Central Ontario, somebody should sue Gary’s sorry ass.

Tonight, we’re in the press box in Tampa. Lots of talk about the Coyotes, Thrashers, Jets and Nordiques as the Capitals and Lightning battle for first place…

1) Winkler’s Eric Fehr says his shoulder has healed and he’ll be back in the Capitals lineup on Wednesday night in Edmonton.

He also wondered if anyone heard the jawing that went on here in Tampa before tonight’s Lightning-Caps game. Eric, my friend, how could you miss it?

“If I’m a ref, I would never make a call on (Lightning agitator Steve) Downie. He dives every two seconds,” Boudreau said after the pre-game skate on Monday morning. “(Leading scorer Steven) Stamkos, he dives every two seconds.”

When told of the comments, Lightning head coach Guy Boucher laughed. He also defended his players and the officials.

“We all know he’s trying to influence the refs for tonight’s game,” said Boucher. “I have too much respect for the players’ dedication, mine and his, to even think that is possible. Referees are smart and more competent than people realize. Besides, Downie and Stamkos have the most minor penalties on our team, it’s not like they’re getting a lot of calls going their way. I think (Boudreau saying Stamkos and Downie are diving) is ridiculous.”

Diving? Right now I’d like to see a couple of dives.

(Note: Four minutes into the third period, referee Tom Kowal waved off a Lightning goal after Marty St. Louis was tripped into the crease. Should have been a penalty or a goal, but not no goal and no penalty. Boudreau’s comments worked. He baited the officials and they bit.)

The first two periods of tonight’s game were so dull, two of the scouts in the press box went down to ice level to watch hoping it might “look faster” down there. “Have you ever seen Ovechkin so disengaged?” asked one scout.

No. He looks downright bored.

(Note: After doing nothing all night — he got an assist on Alexander Semin’s tying goal that he didn’t deserve — Ovechkin scored a magnificent goal in the shootout that won the Caps the game.)

2) Scotty Bowman just told a great story about the day in 1977 when Winnipeg Jets owner Michael Gobuty flew to Montreal and tried to convince Scotty to leave the Canadiens and take over as head coach of the Jets. “I couldn’t believe it,” said Scotty. “He flew in on his private jet with this gorgeous blonde and tried to get me to leave the Canadiens. Needless to say…” That year, Bowman won his second of four straight Stanley Cup championships with the Habs.

3) Bowman also talked about how close the Canadiens were to signing Lars-Eric Sjoberg, before the Jets got him in 1974. Those were the days.

4) Is there a better player in the NHL right now than Jonathan Toews? Toews has at least a point a game in each of his last nine. Over that stretch, he has eight goals and seven assists and has moved into the Top 10 in scoring in the NHL. He has 27 goals and 65 points in 64 games and is 10th overall, just four points out of fifth spot. He has 27 points in his last 17 games and he’ll be here in Tampa on Wednesday night.

5) Lots of talk about Edmonton Oilers rookie sensation Taylor Hall and the fact he’s out for the rest of the season with a high ankle sprain that will take eight weeks to heal. The injury occurred during a fight with Derek Dorsett of Columbus on Thursday night.

Hall leads the Oilers with 22 goals and has 42 points in 65 games. He’s third among rookies in goals and points.

While it’s disappointing for the Oilers to lose their rookie leader, Oilers coach Tom Renney told The Canadian Press that was glad to see Hall stick up for himself. Great, but if I were Renney, I’d have GM Steve Tambellini go out and get me a goon and then I’d tell Hall to never let it happen again.

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Vancouver and Pittsburgh Are Both Gone. It’s on to Plan B

Posted on May 16, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

FARGO, N.D. — When we predicted, confidently, that the Vancouver Canucks would meet the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup final we forgot to consider a handful of very bad things:

1) We did not believe Jaroslav Halak would do to the Penguins almost exactly what he did to the Washington Capitals.

2) We did not believe Sidney Crosby would fail to score in the final four games of a series… any series.

3) We did not believe Roberto Luongo would be as weak as he was against Chicago — again.

4) We did not believe the Sedin Twins would completely disappear.

5) We did not believe Montreal could be as good as they were against Washington and Pittsburgh and we did not believe Vancouver could be as bad as they were against Chicago.

So it’s on to the NHL’s Stanley Cup Conference finals. No Pittsburgh. No Vancouver. But we are armed with a Plan B. After going 1-3 in the semi-finals, we’re now 7-5 this spring.

Here’s our look at the Conference championship series…

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (2)

The Hawks proved against Vancouver that they simply skate too well. The Hawks are fast, skilled and gritty. They have everything a Stanley Cup champion needs, especially leadership. If Antti Niemi gives them any goaltending at all, they should win a game in San Jose and cruise at  home and that’s all they’ll need. The Sharks are shedding the “choke” label, but losing to a No. 2 seed is not choking. The Hawks are the best No. 2 seed we’ve seen in a long, long time. If Chicago does win, they won because they were, as we suspect, the better team.

Chicago Blackhawks in six

Eastern Conference

Philadelphia Flyers (7) versus Montreal Canadiens (8)

It just seems as if the Habs are this year’s team of destiny. With great goaltending from Jaroslav Halak and a load of scoring from their little guys, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri, who leads all scorers in the playoffs with 12 goals, the Habs have ousted first-place Washington and No. 4 Pittsburgh. No small feat. However, while the Flyers look like a pushover for a team that has been so emotional and so dedicated, they deserve a lot of credit themselves. The Flyers checking lines have tied the opposition in knots and Mike Richards and Simon Gagne always seem to be around when they’re needed most. I like the Flyers, but I’m taking…

Montreal Canadiens in six


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Habs Victories Mean the NHL Should Add More Playoff Teams and Start the Post-Season in January

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It has been quite a run for the Montreal Canadiens.

First, the eighth-seeded Habs took out the No. 1-seeded Washington Capitals and then on Wednesday night, they eliminated the No. 4-seeded and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Canadiens are living proof of two things: (1) the 82-game regular season means nothing just so long as you’re one of the 16 teams that makes the playoffs and (2) the NHL has absolute parity now and when a team with 88 points takes out a team with 121 points and then a team with 101 points, then a team with 80 points could do the same.

Wednesday night in Pittsburgh – remember, the Habs have won two series against alleged superior talent and they won both series without home-ice advantage – the Habs built a 4-0 lead and held on to win 5-2 as Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves.

The Habs got a couple of points each from Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri and held Sidney Crosby pointless for the fourth time in the series as Montreal pulled off what many people believe was a “monumental” upset.

But it wasn’t. Not really. The competitive level of the NHL has never been closer than it is right now and anyone who thinks he or she can predict winners on a regular basis in this loop is delusional. Granted, it’s ultimately about goaltending and clearly Halak was better in this series than Marc-Andre Fleury, but let’s not short change the play of people such as Gionta, Cammelleri, Scott Gomez, Thomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore.

The Habs got great goaltending – yes – but they also outskated and outchecked the Penguins for much of the series and that’s why they’ll move on to play the winner of the Philadelphia-Boston series in the Eastern final.

Listen, Montreal, accomplished what no team has accomplished since the current playoff format was created in 1994: They not only beat the Presidents’ Trophy winner (Washington), but also the defending Stanley Cup champion (Pittsburgh) in back-to-back series as an eighth-seeded team (OK, I know that sounds like, “scored more goals on Tuesday nights against Francophone or Russian goaltenders in cities that end with ‘n’ or ‘h’,” but you get it).

However, what they really did was prove that anybody can beat anybody in the playoffs and that’s why, as my friend Les Jackson of the Dallas Stars has suggested, more teams should be in the post-season than the current 16.

If Philadelphia comes all the way back to beat Boston in the other Eastern semi-final, it means that the Eastern final will involve the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds. It also means that the long, tedious regular season was a complete waste of effort and has no real credibility.

The NHL would be better off (and significantly better off financially) if it played a 40-game regular season and then, in January, put all 30 teams in the playoffs and started off with a bunch of best-of-15 series. There is nothing more boring or meaningless than an NHL regular-season game in October (or, more stupidly expensive, for that matter) while there is nothing more exciting than a Game 7 in May.

The Montreal Canadiens have just proven that all you need to do is change the dates.

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Parity Makes this Year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs the Most Competitive in Decades.

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

In a pretty exciting hockey game on Monday night, the Boston Bruins held on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1. Not that this game had anything particularly notable about it, it was simply another indication that this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs are probably the closest we’ve witnessed in a long, long time.

Before the playoffs began, I was on the FAN 960 in Calgary asking Mike Richards, “What constitutes an upset this year?” I suppose you could say a Nashville win over Chicago in the opening round, but don’t forget one thing. At the end of the regular season, the No. 2 Blackhawks had 112 points while the No. 7 Predators had 100. To have two teams separated by only 12 points after 82 games is hardly an uncompetitive situation.

If No. 8 Montreal beats No. 1 Washington in the East, that would definitely be an upset, but if No. 8 Colorado beats No. 1 San Jose in the West, no one would be too surprised. San Jose always chokes early in the post-season.

It’s impossible to deny. The NHL has parity. It’s why the final weeks of the regular season are exciting, it’s why teams that are eight games over .500 miss the playoffs and it’s why this year’s playoffs, for the first time in history, were all tied at 1-1.

On Monday night, Washington made a statement. The Caps went into Montreal and drilled the Habs 5-1. Winkler’s Eric Fehr had a goal and an assist while Alexander Ovechkin was terrific as the Caps let people know that they’ll be around late in the post-season.

Out on the other coast, Roberto Luongo was dreadful in the Vancouver goal as Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead over the Canucks with a 5-3 win.

Nothing is certain this year: Not Ryan Miller’s brilliance, not Detroit’s experience, not Pittsburgh’s defence. Great coaching (see: Barry Trotz), great goaltending (see: Tuukka Rask) and great checking (see: the Philadelphia Flyers) will all play a role as sixth seeds will upset three seeds and seventh seeds will chase down two seeds.

If the first week is any indication, this year’s post-season could very well be the best in decades.

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It’s Run-To-The-Playoffs Time in the NHL.

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

ST. PAUL, Minn. – As the Calgary Flames whipped the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Sunday afternoon, the NHL started its run to the playoffs.

Most NHL teams now have 16-18 games left this season. We’re solidly past the three-quarter-pole and there are just five weeks left in this rather odd season.

After a 14-day break for the Olympics, the NHL is loading up on games and there will be some tired superstars once the playoffs roll around. Until then, let’s take a quick look around The League.

1) Monday night (actually Tuesday morning at 12:10 a.m.), I’m Eric Nelson’s guest on the Eric Nelson Show on 8-3-0 WCCO radio in Minneapolis and we taped the segment on Sunday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Eric asked me to set the NHL’s final four. I told him, Chicago and San Jose in the West and Pittsburgh and Washington in the East. He then asked, “Which teams are the darkhorses?” I told him that question was more fun.

In the West, Detroit is finally healthy and they could be scary when it counts if Jimmy Howard can get the job done in goal. I like Vancouver, too, if Roberto Luongo doesn’t choke like a dog as he did last year.

In the East, I like Buffalo and New Jersey because they both have great goaltenders (Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur). As Brian Burke always said, “We call it the Stanley Cup playoffs because we can’t call it goalie.” He may not have been right about Ian White, Alexei Ponikarovsky or Matt Stajan, but he’s right about that.

2) There was a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s when a Canadian player in the NHL’s Top 10 in scoring was a rarity. A decade ago, the stats were dominated by Europeans.

However, while Euros such as Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin are at the top of the NHL’s scoring stats today, there are now five Canadians and one American in the Top 10. What is even more interesting is that Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby took over the goal-scoring lead on Saturday with his 43rd and 44th and young Steven Stamkos scored his 40th of the year on Saturday. Youth is also being served.

Maybe that Canada-U.S. Olympic final will be a trend, not a fluke.

3) Metis star Rene Bourque hadn’t scored a goal in 15 games until Calgary Flames head coach Brent Sutter put him on a line with Jarome Iginla and Matt Stajan. You’d think it was the return of the Hot Line.

Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the Bourque-Stajan-Iginla line combined for 10 points as the Flames drilled the Wild 5-2. Iginla had three goals and an assist, Stajan had two assists and Bourque, suddenly playing the best hockey in more than a month, had a goal and three assists.

The Flames have been struggling, but since Sutter created this line, Calgary has won two straight solidified their hold on ninth and are now only one point out of eighth and two points out of seventh.

At this stage of the season, a simple move like a line change can positively alter a team’s fortune. Sutter’s decision to create the Bourque-Stajan-Iginla line might have been the move that gets Calgary into the playoffs.

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Nobody in Tampa, Nobody in Jacksonville and Jason Whitlock Gets it Right Again

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

TAMPA, Fla. — Sitting in the press box at the St. Pete Times Forum wondering where the hockey fans went…

I remember coming to Lightning games and seeing at least 15,000 people inside this beautiful building in downtown Tampa, cheering and screaming and urging on their hockey heroes.

But not anymore.

Tonight, the Lightning will probably announce a crowd of 13,000 or 14,000, but the reality is, this building is not half full. And the truly sad part is that Alexander Ovechkin and a very good Washington Capitals team is playing a Lightning club that struggles on defence but has every weapon on offence — Marty St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone. If you live in Tampa and you don’t like this Lightning team, you just don’t like hockey.

Of course, it could all just be part of a recession that few people want to admit is seriously affecting professional sports. I was in Jacksonville yesterday as the Jaguars took another step toward an AFC wild card berth with a 23-18 win over Houston, but fewer than 43,000 people were in the  stands. It was the smallest crowd in Jaguars history.

Fact is, if you want to buy tickets to any sporting event in America these days, there are “plenty of good seats available.” My wife just bought a $50 ticket to the Pro Bowl from Ticketmaster. Nobody thought there would be Pro Bowl tickets available if the NFL moved the game from Honolulu to South Florida, but nobody thought the recession would kick the crap out of ticket sales the way it has.

Tonight, here in Tampa, Ovechkin is wheeling all over the rink while Lecavalier had had three great scoring chances in the first period. It’s a good hockey game. But if there are 6,000 people in this building, I’ll eat the seats.

(NOTE: Just watched Ovechkin score his 19th goal of the season on a one-timer after taking a great pass from Alexander Semin. Ovie is worth the price of admission and I can assure you that here in Tampa, the price of admission ain’t much.)

NOTE: There is only one mainstream media reporter who truly understands the Tiger Woods scandal. Read Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star at: http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/1613268.html?storylink=omni_popular.

After reading his column, the rest of the issue is moot.

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs are Here: It’s prediction time.

Posted on April 12, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Thompson has a theory about the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It comes true most years, but somehow, this looks like a year in which it might come to pass in spades (although I don’t believe it). 

 

“The first round of the playoffs is always the most compelling round because you generally have two types of teams,” explained Thompson. 

 

“You have the teams that were successful all year and feel that if they don’t get to the final or win the Cup, their season was a failure. Then you have the teams that snuck into the playoffs and have nothing to lose. The top teams are often tight while the lesser teams have already done what they set out to do and by the opening round of the playoffs are as loose as can be. 

 

“That’s why there are so many great series and so many big upsets in the first round.”

 

He’s right, of course. The first round of the playoffs is always the most exciting. So without further adieu, let’s look at the 16 teams and eight matchups for the 2009 series which have already begun.

 

THE EASTERN CONFERENCE

 

No. 1 Boston Bruins (53-19-10) vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadiens (41-30-11).

The Habs and Bruins go at it again, a repeat of last year’s first round, in which the Canadiens outlasted Boston four games to three. But this year, things are different. Boston was the best team in the East and the second best team in the NHL and they are on a roll. It’s a team that allowed the fewest number of goals in the league (196) and has a wide-open offence to go with a stingy defence. The Habs were very fortunate to make the playoffs (they finished with the same number of points as Florida) and in six meetings this season, Boston won five of them, two in shootouts. Bruins in five.

 

No. 2 Washington Capitals (50-24-8) vs. No. 7 New York Rangers (43-30-9).

Second-place Washington with all that firepower – Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green are a good start — will face the seventh-place Rangers. The Caps have been very good this season and won the Southeast Division by 11 points over Carolina. They also won three of their four meetings with the Rangers. Capitals in five.

 

No. 3 New Jersey Devils (51-27-4) vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes (45-30-7).

New Jersey, which won the Atlantic Division, will play sixth-place Carolina after beating the Hurricanes in the season finale last week. However, Carolina won its first three meetings with the Devils this season and played much better hockey down the stretch than New Jersey. Hurricanes in seven.

 

No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins (45-28-9) vs. No. 5 Philadelphia Flyers (44-27-11).

Pittsburgh won four of the six meetings between the two teams this season, one in overtime and another in a shootout. However, all Philadelp[hia had to do to earn home ice advantage throughout this series was to win the final game of the season at home against the Rangers and they couldn’t pull it off. Pittsburgh has too much offence and is just playing better hockey at this time. Penguins in six.

 

THE WESTERN CONFERENCE

 

No. 1 San Jose Sharks (53-18-11) vs. No. 8 Anaheim Ducks (42-33-7).

Although it’s No. 1 vs. No. 8, this is a matchup that features two of the most successful teams in the NHL since the lockout. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the Ducks have gone 180-107-41 with four playoff appearances while the Sharks have posted a 197-94-37 mark with three consecutive 100+ point seasons, four playoff appearances and two Pacific Division titles (2008 & 2009). However, the Sharks were the President’s Trophy winners as the best team in the NHL during the regular season while Randy Carlyle’s Ducks were fortunate to make the playoffs. The Sharks also won the season series, 4-2. Sharks in five.

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings (51-21-10) vs. No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets (41-31-10).

A tale of two cities: The Red Wings are the defending Stanley Cup champions while the Blue Jackets are in the playoffs for the first time in their eight seasons of existence. During the regular season, the teams split. Detroit won the first two meetings, Columbus won the next three (including an 8-2 win at Detroit on March 7) and Detroit geat the Jackets 4-0 in a statement game on March 17. I like Ken Hitchcock as a head coach, but Detroit has way too much of everything. Red Wings in five.

 

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks (45-27-10) vs. No. 6 St. Louis Blues (41-31-10).

The remarkable, red-hot Blues clinched the No. 6 seed in the final game of the year and put a cap on an amazing finish. From Feb. 15 to the end of the season, head coach Andy Murray’s Blues went 18-6-3. It was significant because on Feb. 15, the Blues were dead last in the West. This team finished the regular season by going 9-1-1 over its last 11 games and 5-1-1 on the road. Had the Blues lost their final game, they would have finished eighth — which would have meant a series with the top-seeded San Jose Sharks. Instead, they finished with the best second-half record in the League at 25-9-7. However, they have only four players who have ever won a playoff game. Vancouver, meanwhile, came back to claim the Northwest Division title by winning their last three games and going 6-3-1 down the stretch behind the tremendous goaltending of Roberto Luongo. This will be a match-up of two of the hottest teams in the game and two red-hot goalies – Luongo and Chris Mason.. Canucks in seven.

 

No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks (46-24-12) vs. No. 5 Calgary Flames (46-30-6). 

This series screams “Blackhawks!” Chicago swept the four-game season series with the Flames, winning 6-1 and 5-2 at the United Center and 3-2 in overtime and 5-2 at the Saddledome. Add it up. Chicago has more firepower and probably equal goaltending (Huet/Khabibulin vs. Kiprusoff). Chicago oputscored Calgary 19-7 during its four wins and really, the Hawks dominated the season. In fairness to Calgary, the two teams haven’t faced each other since the Hawks’ second win at Calgary on Feb. 5, but still, Hawks in six. 

 

* * *

 

THE 2008-09 NHL TROPHY WINNERS

 

Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin captured his first career Art Ross Trophy as the League’s leading scorer with 113 points while Washington Capitals leftwinger Alexander Ovechkin won his second consecutive Maurice Richard Trophy for being the League’s top goal scorer with 56. 

 

Meanwhile, Boston Bruins goaltenders Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez earned the William Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders on the club that allowed the fewest number of goals — 196.

 

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More Reasons for the Death of the Mainstream Newspaper: No news. No commitment to reading what used to be news.

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

TAMPA — So here we are in Tampa’s St. Pete Times Forum watching Alexander Ovechkin score his 50th goal of the season when all of a sudden he’s warming his hands over his red-hot stick.

Almost immediately, as one looked around the press box, you could assume someone was going to be pissed right off. Ovechkin’s little post-goal, Tony Award-winning celebration combined with the look on the face of Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Rick Tocchet clearly suggested that there would be words in the post-game scrum.

 

No one was disappointed.

 

“It’s hard for me to accept, just to see that happen in our building,” Tocchet said. “I grew up as a player in the days of the old Spectrum in Philly and if that happened in the first period at the Spectrum, it would have been a three-hour period.” 

 

Great, so why didn’t it happen at the Forum in downtown Tampa? Well, for one thing, the Lightning are done and most of them don’t care and for another, you can’t hurt Ovechkin.

 

And that’s what has made all this fuss about Don Cherry’s remarks on CBC a month ago, and I’m paraphrasing, that “Somebody is going to get Ovechkin.” It’s a complete crock.

 

That’s because Cherry, and all the knobs in the print media, forgot that Ovechkin has already been got.

 

Hey boys, ever wonder why Alex doesn’t have any teeth when he does post-game interviews? That’s because, on Dec. 30, 2006, Colton Orr of the New York Rangers cross-checked Ovechkin in the mouth and took out his front teeth. For his oh, so violent act, Orr was suspended five games. 

 

So why did Orr do it? Ironically, not because of anything Ovechkin did. He did it because he told the Caps Donald Brashear that if he goes after Brendan Shanahan again, “I’m going after Ovechkin.”

 

Well, sure enough, Brashear punched Shanahan after a whistle. So on Orr’s next shift, he jumped over the bench, cross-checked Ovechkin and rattled his chiclets. 

 

Ovechkin was stunned, but got up and continued playing. Orr was handed a minor penalty and two days later, the suspension. But everyone marveled at Ovechkin’s toughness.

 

The guy is not afraid and you can’t hurt him.

 

But still, the old guy who wears clown suits on TV, gets ripped by the national print media for suggesting someone’s going to go after Ovechkin. Sadly, no one in the print media remembered (or bothered to look up) the Orr incident. 

 

So not only was Cherry wrong, but the entire mainstream media was wrong for simply assuming ol’ Don knew what he was talking about. And, hey, we even helped ‘em get it right by talking about Colton Orr’s cross-check on radio stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Sadly, the mainstream newspaper industry is hopeless.

 

In the old days, someone in the print media would have looked up “any incidents involving Alexander Ovechkin” before going off half-cocked. Now, the people who rip bloggers for having no editors, don’t even bother doing what they were taught in J-school.

 

The mainstream media is dying not just because newsprint prices are rising or labour costs are increasing, but because the content is weak.

 

Alexander Ovechkin is one of the greatest players in all of hockey. When he’s done, he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. But he shouldn’t have been showboating in Tampa. Like Teemu Selanne’s penchant for shooting down his glove with his stick after a big goal at Winnipeg Arena, Ovechkin’s little performance was a home town dance, not a road taunt. 

 

If Colton Orr was playing for the Lightning in Tampa — in last place or not — he’d have made Rick Tocchet happy.

 

Meanwhile, it seems that every time I read a newspaper, I just feel dumber for the effort.  

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