Nonis Stays

Posted: 16th May 2010 by Adam in Toronto Maple Leafs
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At a time of year when the Toronto Maple Leafs are not generally a topic of conversation, us Leafs fans received some good news this week.

The way the news was provided is evidence to why this is good news, but more on that.  First, from TSN we have word that Dave Nonis will remain as the vice president of hockey operations in Toronto.

Many Leafs fans, myself included, believe that Nonis has been instrumental in many of the moves that the Leafs have made over the past 2 seasons.  With 1 obvious exception, most of those trades/acquisitions have been unanimously praised by Leafs Nation.  Nonis also played a key role for the Leafs this past season while Brian Burke was dealing first with assembling Team USA and then with the passing of his son.

Perhaps more importantly is that this means the link from TSN to the Maple Leafs remains in tact.  TSN insider Darren Dreger is said to be cousins with Dave Nonis.  If you follow Dreger’s track record throughout the past 2 seasons, his Maple Leafs news has been 2nd-to-none, probably due to that link.  That’s good news for us Leafs fans.

Round 3, Here we Go!

Posted: 16th May 2010 by Adam in Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks
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I went 2-for-4 on the prediction side of round 2, nailing the Sharks over Red Wings and Flyers over Bruins.  That brings my playoff record to 9 of 12 and guarantees a +50% in the playoffs.  Hurray!

Round 3 begins today with a noon start in San Jose.  I can’t imagine attending a playoff hockey game in California at noon on a Sunday. 

The Hawks/Sharks series is the 1st one of these entire playoffs where I have no inkling whatsoever.  The Sharks looked strong eliminating the Red Wings, but the Red Wings failed to bring the required intensity for most of the series.  The Hawks also looked strong against Vancouver, but questionable goaltending and inconsistent efforts on behalf of the Canucks may have contributed to that.

Both teams are hungry, healthy, and talented.  In the end, I’m going to pick San Jose to win.  I think the Sharks will finally get over the final hump and march to the finals.  I think Evgeni Nabokov will outplay Anti Niemi, and I think that the Sharks feature more depth up-front than the Hawks.  The calming influence of Rob Blake will be key for the Sharks in this series, particularly in the first and third games.  Sharks in 6.

In the East, we have the surprising Montreal Canadiens battling the almost equally surprising Philadelphia Flyers.  I’ve been picking the Flyers from the start, and I’m going to do the same here.

In Philadelphia, Montreal will face a different kind of opponent than they did in Washington or Pittsburgh.  In both of those series, Montreal was able to focus on shutting down a few key weapons (Ovechkin/Backstrom, Crosby/Malkin) that effectively muted any offensive power.  Philadelphia lacks the same kind of offensive flair, but makes up for it with depth.  On any given night, there are a handful of Flyers capable of being their most dominant offensive player, something made much more true should Jeff Carter return mid-series.

The Flyers will also provide the most significant physical test for the Canadiens.  They like to hit, and they’ll be on Montreal’s defensive corps early and often.  At the other end of the ice, the Canadiens small forwards will face a true mismatch against the Flyers defensemen.  Starting with Chris Pronger, the Flyers have a big, strong group of defenders that will punish the Canadiens forwards at every opportunity.

Flyers in 7.

Hart Trophy Picks

Posted: 8th May 2010 by Adam in Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals
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This year’s nominees for the Hart trophy are Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Henrik Sedin.  As much as it pains me to say this, I think my vote would have gone to Crosby this season.

While Alexander Ovechkin had another great season, he was surrounded by a great team full of great players all enjoying great seasons.  Ovechkin and the Capitals coasted through most of the regular season, but this team would’ve still been a strong team even without his tremendous contributions.

Out in Vancouver, we saw the Sedin twins have their best season to date.  Henrik was phenomenal, but it’s interesting to ponder which Sedin would be involved in this discussion had Daniel not missed a few weeks of the season.  Henrik accumulated points at a rate of 1.37 points-per-game, while Daniel was right behind at 1.35.  The difference is that Daniel puts the puck in the net at a higher clip, which seems to weight strongly with voters in NHL circles.  Had Daniel played 80’ish games, instead of 63, he’d probably have garnered more consideration than Henrik due to the numbers.

That leaves Sidney Crosby, who, interestingly, scored points at a lower per-game rate than either Ovechkin or Henrik Sedin.  He did tie for the lead league in goals, however.  Most impressive is that Crosby had his best goal-scoring season ever, in a season when the Penguins him needed him more than usual.  Evgeni Malkin had a horrible (by his standards) season, and Crosby was able to elevate his game and carry the Penguins through the regular season and into the playoffs.

Also in Crosby’s favour is his Olympic play.  Despite the Olympics being outside the realm of the NHL, it will certainly weigh heavily on voters that Crosby scored the gold-medal winning goal.

Season Ending Injuries

Posted: 5th May 2010 by Adam in Injuries, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins
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If the 2009-10 NHL season has taught us anything, it’s that season ending injuries aren’t really season ending.

Andrei Markov suffered a “season-threatening” injury during the season-opener in Toronto.  Certainly he’d be out until after the Olympic break in early March. 

He returned on December 19th.

Then Markov suffered a torn MCL and/or ACL against the Penguins.  Definitely season-ending this time.  Except maybe not.  A radio interview offered today by a representative of the Canadiens indicated that Markov may be able to play with the torn ACL.

Finally, we have the Jordan Staal injury.  Roughly 2 gays after word of his season-ending injury began to circulate, Staal took to the ice in Montreal and a return isn’t being ruled out.

Are players healing faster or is the media simply in a hurry to pump out exaggerated headlines in an effort to “break” the news? 

The Fans Hath Grown

Posted: 3rd May 2010 by Adam in San Jose Sharks
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I don’t generally get to see a lot of San Jose Sharks games, particularly games in San Jose.  They’re on late, and they aren’t exactly a big ticket draw here in southern Ontario.

That said, there is one thing I’ve really noticed watching the first 2 games of the Sharks/Red Wings series.

The San Jose fans know their hockey.

I remember watching years ago, when they would be doing one of 2 things:

  • Constantly cheering, without any indication as to why.
  • Sitting on their hands waiting for a goal and/or some cheering instructions.

They’re now voicing their displeasure at borderline offside and icing calls.  They’re providing thunderous ovations for strong shifts.  They’re even caught on to the subtle nuances associated with the act of harassing the officials.

From my limited viewing experience, it seems that the Shark Tank would be a more electric place to watch a hockey game than either the Air Canada Center or Scotiabank Place.

Yes We CANadiens!

Posted: 2nd May 2010 by Adam in Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins
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It scares me to say this, but the 2010 edition of the Montreal Canadiens seem to have that mystical “Canadiens” feel to them.  Nothing would cause me more pain than seeing the Canadiens survive yet another round of the playoffs.  Their insufferable fans have reached new heights already, and it can only get worse from here.

Earlier today, they tied up their 2nd round series with the Penguins.  At least, that team was wearing Penguins jerseys of which they claimed to be the rightful owners.  I’m doubtful.  Either they were replaced by the AHL version or the Penguins had already checked out of the series after a convincing game 1 victory.

The Penguins need to get their heads together before heading to Montreal.  The city and the arena will be jumping, and Pittsburgh needs to stay focused and play their game.  If they start to get dragged into the hoopla, the series could slip away from them before they know it.

Umberger: Soothsayer?

Posted: 2nd May 2010 by Adam in Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals
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No, not quite.

Puck Daddy asked something similar the other day.

Let’s revisit Umberger’s comments at the start of April:

"I don’t think any team in the West would be overmatched by them," Umberger said. "They play the wrong way. They want to be moving all the time. They float around in their zone, looking for breakaways and odd-man rushes.

"A good defensive team is going to beat them (in the playoffs). If you eliminate your turnovers and keep them off the power play, they’re going to get frustrated because they’re in their zone a lot."

He’s wrong to say that no team in the West would be overmatched; surely he remembers both the Oilers and his own team, the Blue Jackets?  Ya, they’re pretty awful teams.

Let’s not kid ourselves, Washington was the superior team in all but 1 facet of their series with Montreal: goaltending.  Were it not for Jaroslav Halak, the Canadiens would’ve been eliminated in 5 games.

A lot of people have been talking about the shot-blocking prowess of the Canadiens, pointing to their huge blocked-shots totals.  And yeah, they are huge. The problem is that their blocked shot totals are pretty much proportional to other teams in terms of shots-blocked as a ratio of shots-attempted.  The Capitals attempted a ton of shots; it stands to reason that the Canadiens, particularly the defensemen, would pull in some obscene blocked shot totals.

To summarize, Montreal didn’t do any of things that Umberger suggested would be the undoing of the Capitals; they didn’t eliminate turnovers (hard to turn it over when you don’t have the puck), and they didn’t keep them off the power-play.

What they did do was throw a brick wall in net, which rendered the Capitals power-play ineffective and zapped their enthusiasm.  The Capitals are not without blame here, but they certainly weren’t undone by some sort of genius defensive system.

A Veteran Presence?

Posted: 2nd May 2010 by Adam in Toronto Maple Leafs
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As anyone who’s read Holy Puck for any amount of time is no doubt aware, I’m a Leafs fan.  I stumbled across a post over at Maple Leafs Hot Stove debating the merits of bringing in veteran forwards on short-term contracts in a mentoring capacity.

I don’t necessarily disagree with the premise, just the timing.

This team will not compete for the Stanley Cup next season (despite the fact that I’m already putting money on them making the playoffs).  They likely won’t be serious threats for at least another 2 seasons.

If you accept that to be accurate, then next season is another growth season.  A season in which you’re going to ride your young players; giving them key minutes in key situations.  It’s the only way you’re going to find out which of your young players are deserving of a top-6 spot going forward, and which can be better used elsewhere.

Bringing in a Ray Whitney or a Paul Kariya may provide a short-term boost to the offense, but it certainly isn’t the long-term solution.  Neither player will be a key player in the NHL for more than another 2-3 seasons, and giving them substantial minutes during a growth year only serves to remove those minutes from someone who could benefit from them.

If I were Brian Burke, I’d be looking at adding a top-6 forward this summer if, and only if, that forward was young enough and talented enough to play a significant role on a Cup contending team for each of the next 5 seasons. 

Round 2 – Predictions

Posted: 29th April 2010 by Adam in Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks
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I know the Sharks and Red Wings are already underway, but it’s time for round 2 predictions.  As I write this, they’re midway through the 2nd period and the Sharks have a 3-2 lead in what’s been a reasonably entertaining game.

Without further ado…

  • San Jose 4 – Detroit 3 : The Sharks will put their demons to rest and overcome the Red Wings in a long, hard-fought series.  They get an advantage out of the gate, coming into the game rested while the Red Wings are just a couple of days removed from a 1st round game 7.  Toss in home ice advantage and the “now or never” mentality and the stage is set for them to succeed.
  • Vancouver 4 – Chicago 3 : This is easily the closest of the 2nd round series, and is likely to be one of the best series of the entire playoffs.  These teams hate each other.  They engaged in all kinds of shenanigans during the regular season matches, a lot of which was carried over from last year’s playoff matchup.  This series will only see that continue.  The difference in this series will have to be Roberto Luongo.  Luongo can quiet the doubters with a strong performance, and he’ll have to outduel Anti Niemi in order to move into the conference finals.
  • Pittsburgh 4 – Montreal 2 : Despite beating the Capitals, the Canadiens are simply overmatched against the Penguins.  Pittsburgh is the 2-time defending conference champion; they know what it takes to win and they know how to elevate their game.  Washington did neither.  Jaroslav Halak will probably be good enough to steal a game or two, but he’d have to have a superhuman series for the Habs to move on.
  • Philadelphia 4 – Boston 2 : The Flyers go into this series hurt, with both Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne out of the lineup.  Losing 2 world class players would hurt most teams, but the Flyers have enough depth to overcome it.  The Bruins lack the offensive flair to push the Flyers, so Brian Boucher will only have to be average.  Unless Tuuka Rask can win 4 games on his own, the Bruins won’t be around much longer.

Keith Yandle, Frustrated Much?

Posted: 29th April 2010 by Adam in Detroit Red Wings, NHL Justice, Phoenix Coyotes
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I thought something looked amiss after Brad Stuart’s goal the other night, but I didn’t really pay enough attention to see exactly what it was.  Watch carefully after Stuart scores, as Henrik Zetterberg is about to circle the Coyotes net.

 

What you see there is Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle hack the legs out from beneath Zetterberg.  Luckily, Zetterberg appears to have been uninjured.  This could easily have been a serious injury, seriously denting the Cup chances of the Red Wings.

I hope the NHL will review this and suspend Yandle to open next season.  I understand being frustrated, but you can’t take that out on another player.  Of course, this being the NHL, they won’t review it for 2 reasons:

  1. The media isn’t talking about it.
  2. Zetterberg wasn’t injured.

Unfortunate, but true.

Link: Puck Daddy: Keith Yandle Classes up Coyotes Elimination vs. Wings

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