An Odd Weekend...

Four years ago, you could have said the Rangers would get 2 points in this weekend's back-to-back games, one in Buffalo and then home against Detroit. They could've beaten the Sabres but would have been mauled by the Red Wings.

Three years ago, you could've written this weekend off as a total loss. The Sabres were flying on the wings of Danny Briere and Chris "More Than 2 Goals in 22 Games" Drury, and the Red Wings again would have mauled them.

This year, it could be interesting.

The Sabres are flying high at 16-7-2 and are on a 4-game winning streak. They are also 9-3-2 at home, while the Rangers are 6-7-1 on the road. However, the Rangers are well-rested and have arguably the best player in the league playing for them. If Marian Gaborik scores another 2 goals tonight and Henrik Lundqvist shows up with a good performance, they can steal 2 big points from a conference rival.

The Red Wings, however, are just 3 games over .500 and are breaking even on the road. Old incarnations of the Wings have mauled the Rangers every game. There was a cold January game in 2006 where Brendan Shanahan buried them for 2 goals (the Rangers lost 4-3, but there was a late 3rd period goal to make it seem closer); there was a game when Shanahan was a Ranger where the Rangers were winning 3-1 and then stopped playing and lost 4-3 (that was the night Sean Avery was traded to the Rangers); and then there was last year, where Aaron Voros scored 2 goals and the Rangers still lost, in overtime (Aaron Voros... two goals? What?).

Though the Red Wings are struggling, so are the Rangers, and the Rangers do have to travel back from Buffalo in order to play this game. Detroit has a game in New Jersey tonight; traveling from Jersey to New York, however time-consuming the traffic may be, is not as bad as a flight home from Buffalo.

This weekend is really a crapshoot. If I was guessing, I would say they win in Buffalo and get mauled by Detroit. However, knowing my betting record, they're going to beat Detroit but lose tonight to Buffalo.

Hey, maybe back being in Buffalo will wake Chris Drury and Ales Kotalik up.

* * *

In answer to reader Eric the Lev, who inquired if I thought John Tortorella would get fired like John Stevens - no, I don't. It's way too soon to tell if he will last. The team is suffering injuries and are still treading water. However, I think the tide will have to sway in his favor soon to save some more jobs.

In my opinion, the GM should be gone. One coach (Tom Renney) didn't work. Another one is having problems. Time to point the finger at the man who signed Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, and Chris Drury to a total of $19M per season, isn't it?

I also don't know why Stevens was fired from Philadelphia. The team is doing decent and most of the team is performing well. They don't have good goaltending yet are staying competitive in games.

I think he was fired because of pre-season expectations. Everyone predicted the Flyers to be great and go deep into the playoffs, yet they have a weak blueline (including overrated Chris Pronger) and poor goaltending (although Ray Emery and Brian Boucher have been playing better than I thought, they still aren't a top-notch tag team). So they fire the coach, bring in Peter Laviolette, and hope for the best. Bad move.

Fedor Tyutin...

The Columbus Blue Jackets clinched a playoff berth today when their game against Chicago went to overtime. They sealed the deal with a shootout win. Rick Nash, Jonathan Toews and Pat Kane missed, but Fedor Tyutin, the second Columbus shooter, scored.

Also, today, I was listening to NHL Home Ice 204 on XM and they were listing the nominations for the Espo Awards, their yearly award ceremony. I highly disagreed with their list for Michel Bergeron Trophy (for Coach of the Year).

They had: Andy Murray (Blues); Barry Trotz (Predators); Claude Julien (Bruins); Brent Sutter (Devils); and Paul Maurice (Hurricanes). Phil Esposito added Ken Hitchcock (Blue Jackets) to the list.

Uh, where is John Tortorella in this list?!

No, kidding, but seriously, where is rookie coach Todd McLellan? The Sharks are far and away the best team in the league this season. While having Joe Thornton, Rob Blake, Danny Boyle, and Evgeni Nabokov helps, are you telling me he doesn't belong in the top six of all coaches this season?

If I had to pick a top 3 to nominate, I would say McLellan, Julien, and probably Hitchcock. All are good choices, and I think Julien would/should win the real award, the Jack Adams Award. He has taken a ragtag group of players and turned them into dominant forces.

Ahh, remember the good ol' days in the year after the lockout, when Lindy Ruff (Sabres), Pete Laviolette ('Canes), and Tom Renney (Rangers) were nominated? After this season, all 3 might not be on those teams anymore, especially if the Sabres miss the playoffs again.

Couple of Tidbits...

A few notes regarding Tom Renney...

First off, out of the 4 teams who started the season in Europe, none of them have the same coach they started out with. Barry Melrose was replaced in Tampa Bay early on. Craig Hartsburg was fired from Ottawa, and then Michel Therrien was fired in Pittsburgh. Peter Laviolette (Carolina) and Denis Savard (Chicago) are the only coaches to have been fired who did not play overseas.

Secondly, out of 32 teams in the NHL, only 9 have made the playoffs every year since the lockout ended. Six of them (Wings, Stars, Flames, Predators, Sharks, Ducks) are from the West. The only East teams to do so? Ottawa, New Jersey, and the Rangers.

Renney ended his Rangers career 164-121-42 (those 42 are overtime/shootout losses, as he had no ties in the 2003-04 season when he went 5-15-0). He received 363 points in 327 games. He was 11-13 in postseason play, winning 2 playoff series (Atlanta, New Jersey) and losing 3 (New Jersey, Buffalo, Pittsburgh).

The Final Three

We take a break from Gretzky Week to report - get this - actual, real NHL news.

As per the only person who actually reports on the Islanders, Greg Logan at Newsday, Garth Snow has narrowed down his list of coaching candidates to three. The lucky three are Bob Hartley, Paul Maurice, and Scott Gordon. While the first two are hardly surprising, the inclusion of Gordon on that list is the wild card. Something tells me he's the one with the best shot at the job.

This is the way I see it. While Hartley has won a Stanley Cup and Maurice brought Carolina to the Cup Finals, both of them have faltered on less-talented teams. I'd wager that this year's Islander team won't be as good as Hartley's Thrasher teams or the teams Maurice had in Carolina and Toronto. Do you really want to be stuck with someone who has proven that he can't win without talent?

Sure, whoever takes over this team is coaching with at least one eye on the future. But a competitive team in the short-term is important to keep fan interest alive on Long Island. I'd hardly call a Southeast title in 2007 for Hartley evidence of his ability to help this team win now. Nor would I overlook the fact that Maurice hasn't won a playoff series outside of his 2002 run to the Finals. If we can all agree that we can do without mediocrity (or, at least, the potential for mediocrity), we can also agree that there's a better answer out there.

Enter Scott Gordon.

Islander fans may recall the last time they plucked an unproven coach from the Providence Bruins of the AHL. That was when they hired Peter Laviolette. He's probably the best coach, with the obvious exception of Al Arbour, that this team has ever had. (Hard to believe, right? Look it up.) Now, the Islanders are looking to his roots to find their successor. And, quite frankly, they could do much worse.

Scott Gordon is the reigning AHL Coach Of The Year. His teams have steadily improved over the years he's been coach; while the point totals remained relatively modest until this past season, the Bruins' goal differential has either remained constant or increased each year. He's developed a number of youngsters that were a part of Boston's resurgent season in 2007-08. And while his playoff record isn't all that impressive, it's worth noting that his best performance was an appearance in the AHL Conference Finals in the lockout year of 2004-05, when every team was stacked. (Fun Fact: Guess who the leading scorer in Providence was that year? Andy Hilbert.)

I know that there's a bit of doubt about Gordon, as there is (and should be) about any coach without NHL experience. There are also those who will say that we're better off with that which we do know than that which we don't. But I disagree with that line of thinking. Besides, think about what we do know about Hartley; namely, that he's been fired twice and couldn't win in an awful division with Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa at his disposal. What do we know about Maurice? That he, like Hartley, has been fired twice and couldn't compete in the crappy Southeast. Do we want a coach that can't win with 25% of their season played against the likes of Florida? Jeez.

That's why I say Gordon's the answer. Considering the alternatives, he pretty much has to be.

Now, let me stress that the Islanders absolutely cannot screw up this chance. I'd sooner they go into the season with an interim coach, then hire the right coach in November. They can't be in a spot when they're firing their coach right at the time when the young guys are ready to hit the big-time. Get it right now, and deal with the fall-out this season. In all honesty, it's not going to be anything to write home about anyway.

All this said, I could deal with any of the three on Snow's final list. But the Islanders are fooling themselves if they think Hartley or Maurice can turn them into a winner any sooner than Gordon. And since Gordon is the better developer of young talent, it's pretty clear that he should be the guy.